1. At Mizpah the men of Israel had sworn, “Not one of us will let his daughter marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”
2. The people went to the city of Bethel and sat before God until evening, crying loudly.
3. They said, “Lord, God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe of Israel is missing today?”
4. Early the next day the people built an altar and put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on it.
5. Then the Israelites asked, “Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us in the presence of the Lord?” They asked this question because they had sworn 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 cut off from Israel.
7. We swore before the Lord that we would not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the remaining 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 had come.
9. The people of Israel counted everyone, but there was no one from Jabesh Gilead.