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Shaphatiym 21

Shaphatiym chapter 21 in the Qadmoni reader. Read the full chapter text with direct verse references and continue into the interactive reader.

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21:1

The Preservation of Binyamiyn and the Final Anarchy

Now the men of Yashar'al had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, "There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Binyamiyn to wife."
21:2

The Mourning at the House of Alahiym

And the people came to the house of Alahiym, and abode there till even before Alahiym, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
21:3
And said, "O 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄 Alahiym of Yashar'al, why is this come to pass in Yashar'al, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Yashar'al?"
21:4
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
21:5

The Search for the Absent City

And the children of Yashar'al said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Yashar'al that came not up with the congregation unto 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄?" For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄 to Mizpeh, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."
21:6
And the children of Yashar'al repented them for Binyamiyn their brother, and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Yashar'al this day."
21:7
"How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄 that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?"
21:8

The Judgment of Yabesh-gilead

And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Yashar'al that came not up to Mizpeh to 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄?" And, behold, there came none to the camp from Yabesh-gilead to the assembly.
21:9
For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Yabesh-gilead there.
21:10
And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, "Go and smite the inhabitants of Yabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children."
21:11
"And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man."
21:12
And they found among the inhabitants of Yabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Kena’an.
21:13

The Proclamation of Peace to the Remnant

And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Binyamiyn that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
21:14
And Binyamiyn came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Yabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
21:15

The Compassion of the Matrix

And the people repented them for Binyamiyn, because that 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄 had made a breach in the tribes of Yashar'al.
21:16

The Problem of the Remaining Two Hundred

Then the elders of the congregation said, "How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Binyamiyn?"
21:17
And they said, "There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Binyamiyn, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Yashar'al."
21:18
"Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Yashar'al have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Binyamiyn."
21:19

The Feast at Shiloh

Then they said, "Behold, there is a feast of 𐀉𐀄𐀅𐀄 in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beyth-El, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beyth-El to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah."
21:20
Therefore they commanded the children of Binyamiyn, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;"
21:21
"And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Binyamiyn."
21:22
"And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favorable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty."
21:23

The Restoration of the Tribe

And the children of Binyamiyn did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
21:24

The Dispersion of the Tribes

And the children of Yashar'al departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
21:25

The Final Diagnosis of Anarchy

In those days there was no king in Yashar'al: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.