8-9. Again the Israelites asked, “Did any of the tribes stay away from the meeting at Mizpah?”After asking around, they discovered that no one had come from Jabesh in Gilead.
10-11. So they sent twelve thousand warriors with these orders: “Attack Jabesh in Gilead and kill everyone, except the women who have never been married.”
12. The warriors attacked Jabesh in Gilead, and returned to their camp in Canaan with four hundred young women.
13. The Israelites met and sent messengers to the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock, telling them that the Israelites were willing to make peace with them.
14. So the men of Benjamin came back from Rimmon Rock, and the Israelites let them marry the young women from Jabesh. But there weren't enough women.
15. The Israelites were very sad, because the Lord had almost wiped out one of their tribes.
16. Then their national leaders said:All the women of the Benjamin tribe were killed. How can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are left?
17. If they don't have children, one of the Israelite tribes will die out.
18. But we can't let the men of Benjamin marry any of our daughters. We made a sacred promise not to do that, and if we break our promise, we will be under our own curse.
19. Then someone suggested, “What about the Lord's Festival that takes place each year in Shiloh? It's held north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and just east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.”