¹⁸ But all the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Female Captives

¹⁰ “When you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them captive, ¹¹ suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman whom you desire and want to marry, ¹² and so you bring her home to your house: she shall shave her head, pare her nails,^{(A) 13} discard her captive’s garb, and remain in your house a full month mourning for her father and mother; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ But if you are not satisfied with her, you shall let her go free and certainly not sell her for money. You must not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

² And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess the nations^[a] as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land; they will take captive those who were their captors and rule over those who oppressed them.^(A)

Intervention of Oded

⁸ The people of Israel took captive two hundred thousand of their kin: women, sons, and daughters; they also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.^{(A) 9} But a prophet of the Lord was there whose name was Oded; he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven.^{(B) 10} Now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. But what have you except sins against the Lord your God?^(C)

¹⁴ You may, however, take as your plunder the women, the children, livestock, and everything else in the town, all its spoil. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you.^(A)

⁴⁴ As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves.