13. Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjaminites at the rock of Rimmon.
14. So the Benjaminites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15. The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.
16. And the elders of the assembly said, ‘With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left?
17. The Benjaminite survivors must have heirs,’ they said, ‘so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
18. We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite.”
19. But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.’
20. So they instructed the Benjaminites, saying, ‘Go and hide in the vineyards
21. and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin.
22. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, “Do us the favour of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.” ’
23. So that is what the Benjaminites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.
24. At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
25. In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.Footnotes for the Book of Judgesa 5 Bokim means weepers.b 9 Also known as Timnath Serah (see Joshua 19:50 and 24:30)c 16 Or leaders; similarly in verses 17-19a 4 Traditionally judgingb 11 Or father-in-lawa 19 That is, probably about 16 kilogramsb 25 Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father’s herdc 25 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30d 26 Or build with layers of stone ane 26 Or full-grown; also in verse 28f 32 Jerub-Baal probably means let Baal contend.a 4 That is, about 800 gramsb 29 Septuagint; Hebrew him. Then he said to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’c 37 The Hebrew for this phrase means the navel of the earth.d 39 Or Gaal went out in the sight ofa 16 Or the Sea of Reedsb 20 Or however, would not make an agreement for Israela 18 Or is wonderfula 16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.b 17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.c 19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.d 20 Traditionally judgeda 2 That is, about 13 kilogramsb 4 That is, about 2.3 kilogramsc 8 Or To carry on his professiond 10 That is, about 115 gramsa 18 Hebrew, Vulgate, Syriac and Targum; Septuagint going homea 2 Or to the house of God