- Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?"
- They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.
- "But we cannot give them wives of our daughters." For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin."
- So they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah."
- And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
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- And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left?
- The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
- 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 Benjamite.'
- But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah."
- So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards
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