20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go, and lie in wait in the vineyards.

21 And when ye see that the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man a wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go into the land of Benjamin.

22 And [a]when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, we will say unto them, Have pity on them for our sakes, because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war, and because ye have not given unto them hitherto, ye have sinned.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 21:22 Though they thought hereby to persuade men that they kept their oath, yet before God it was broken.

20 So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,(A) rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give(B) your daughters to them.’”

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