Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: "None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage." So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, and cried out, "Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is [missing] in Israel today?" read more.
The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Israelites asked, "Who of all the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord with the assembly?" For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death. But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, "Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. What should we do about wives for the survivors? We've sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives." They asked, "Which city among the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. For when the people were counted, no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. The congregation sent 12,000 brave warriors there and commanded them: "Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and children. This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man." They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon. Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them. The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. The elders of the congregation said, "What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?" They said, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. But we can't give them our daughters as wives." For the Israelites had sworn: "Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed." They also said, "Look, there's an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah." Then they commanded the Benjaminites: "Go and hide in the vineyards. Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, 'Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn't actually give [the women] to them, so you are not guilty [of breaking your oath].' " The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.


The Lord then said to Joshua, "Stand up! Why are you on the ground? Israel has sinned. They have violated My covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put [the things] with their own belongings. This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs [and run] from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from you what is set apart. read more.
"Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves tomorrow, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'There are among you, Israel, things set apart. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart. In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan the Lord selects is to come forward family by family. The family the Lord selects is to come forward man by man. The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, along with everything he has, because he has violated the Lord's covenant and committed an outrage in Israel.' " Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, and Zabdi was selected. He then had Zabdi's family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected. So Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you, tell me what you have done. Don't hide anything from me." Achan replied to Joshua, "It is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, 200 silver shekels, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the money under the cloak." So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the money underneath. They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in the Lord's presence. Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? Today the Lord will trouble you!" So all Israel stoned him to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them, and raised over him a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

The Israelites asked, "Who of all the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord with the assembly?" For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death. But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, "Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. What should we do about wives for the survivors? We've sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives." read more.
They asked, "Which city among the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. For when the people were counted, no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. The congregation sent 12,000 brave warriors there and commanded them: "Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and children. This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man." They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.


They asked, "Which city among the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. For when the people were counted, no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. The congregation sent 12,000 brave warriors there and commanded them: "Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and children. read more.
This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man." They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon. Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them. The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.


The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: "None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage." So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, and cried out, "Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is [missing] in Israel today?" read more.
The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Israelites asked, "Who of all the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord with the assembly?" For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death. But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, "Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. What should we do about wives for the survivors? We've sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives." They asked, "Which city among the tribes of Israel didn't come to the Lord at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. For when the people were counted, no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. The congregation sent 12,000 brave warriors there and commanded them: "Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and children. This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept with a man." They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon. Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them. The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. The elders of the congregation said, "What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?" They said, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. But we can't give them our daughters as wives." For the Israelites had sworn: "Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed." They also said, "Look, there's an annual festival to the Lord in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah." Then they commanded the Benjaminites: "Go and hide in the vineyards. Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, 'Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn't actually give [the women] to them, so you are not guilty [of breaking your oath].' " The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.


The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they took possession of according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.

They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young women, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.