And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is done among you?

But the Israeli army not counting the tribe of Benjamin numbered 400,000 expert swordsmen, all of them battle-hardened soldiers.

and the army of Israel went out to fight the tribe of Benjamin, assembling in battle array against them at Gibeah.

and the tribe of Benjamin went to war against them from Gibeah during that second day, and 18,000 soldiers from the Israelis all of them expert swordsmen fell to the ground.

That's how 18,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin fell in battle, all of whom were valiant soldiers.

To sum up, the soldiers from the tribe of Benjamin who died that day totaled 25,000 men, all of them expert swordsmen and valiant soldiers.

But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, "One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today!

So the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time, and the Israelis gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the raid on Jabesh-gilead. Even so, there weren't enough for them.

The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the LORD had broken one of the tribes of Israel.

They continued, "Let's make sure that there's an inheritance for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin, so that a tribe won't be blotted out from Israel.

But we can't give them wives from our own daughters, since we've taken this vow: "May the LORD curse anyone who gives his daughter as a wife to the tribe of Benjamin!'"

If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we'll tell them "Be generous! Give them to us voluntarily, because we didn't take anyone to be a wife for the men of the tribe of Benjamin as a result of the battle. And you haven't incurred guilt by giving your daughters to them.'"