5. Then the Israelites asked, “Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us before the Lord?” They asked this question because they had made a great promise. They had promised that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be killed.
6. The Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the Benjaminites. They said, “Today one tribe has been separated from Israel.
7. We made a promise before the Lord. We will not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the men of Benjamin will have wives?”
8. Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come here to Mizpah?” They found that no one from the city of Jabesh Gilead was there.
9. The people of Israel counted everyone, but no one from Jabesh Gilead was there.
10. So the whole group of Israelites sent 12,000 soldiers to Jabesh Gilead. They told the soldiers to kill the people in Jabesh Gilead with their swords. Even the women and children were to be killed.