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Mourning
Lost Tribe |
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| Judges 21:1 |
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Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying,
"None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage." |
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| Judges 21:2 |
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So the people came to Bethel and sat there before
God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. |
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| Judges 21:3 |
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They said, "Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has
this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?" |
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| Judges 21:4 |
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It came about the next day that the people arose
early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. |
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| Judges 21:5 |
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Then the sons of Israel said, "Who is there
among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?"
For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD
at Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death." |
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| Judges 21:6 |
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And the sons of Israel were sorry for their
brother Benjamin and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel today. |
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| Judges 21:7 |
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What shall we do for wives for those who are
left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in
marriage?" |
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Provision
for Their Survival |
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| Judges 21:8 |
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And they said, "What one is there of the tribes
of Israel who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come
to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. |
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| Judges 21:9 |
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For when the people were numbered, behold, not
one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. |
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| Judges 21:10 |
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And the congregation sent 12,000 of the valiant
warriors there, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. |
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| Judges 21:11 |
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This is the thing that you shall do: you shall
utterly destroy every man and every woman who has lain with a man." |
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| Judges 21:12 |
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And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead
400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought
them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. |
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| Judges 21:13 |
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Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke
to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to
them. |
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| Judges 21:14 |
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Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave
them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; yet they
were not enough for them. |
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| Judges 21:15 |
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And the people were sorry for Benjamin because
the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. |
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| Judges 21:16 |
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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?" |
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| Judges 21:17 |
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They said, " There must be an inheritance for
the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. |
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| Judges 21:18 |
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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." |
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| Judges 21:19 |
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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." |
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| Judges 21:20 |
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And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying,
"Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, |
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| Judges 21:21 |
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and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh
come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards
and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the
land of Benjamin. |
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| Judges 21:22 |
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It shall come about, when their fathers or
their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, 'Give them to
us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle,
nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'" |
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| Judges 21:23 |
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The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives
according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they
went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them. |
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| Judges 21:24 |
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The sons of Israel departed from there at that
time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there
to his inheritance. |
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| Judges 21:25 |
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In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone
did what was right in his own eyes. |
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