¹⁶ The leaders of the congregation asked, “What should we do to provide wives for the men who are left, since the women in Benjamin have been killed?”

¹⁷ Some said, “Benjamin’s men who survived must be allowed to have families. No tribe of Israel should be wiped out. ¹⁸ However, we can’t give them any of our daughters as wives. The people of Israel have taken an oath that whoever gives wives to the men of Benjamin is under a curse.”