| Christian Standard Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: "None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage." | 1The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” |
| 2So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, | 2Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly. |
| 3and cried out, "Why, LORD God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today?" | 3“O LORD, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!” |
| 4The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. | 4Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. |
| 5The 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. | 5Then they said, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the LORD?” At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD’s presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death. |
| 6But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, "Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. | 6The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. |
| 7What should we do about wives for the survivors? We've sworn to the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives." | 7How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?” |
| 8They 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. | 8So they asked, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we assembled in the presence of the LORD?” And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly. |
| 9For when the roll was called, no men were there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. | 9For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present. |
| 10The congregation sent twelve thousand brave warriors there and commanded them: "Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and dependents. | 10So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. |
| 11This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every woman who has gone to bed with a man." | 11“This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” |
| 12They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not gone to bed with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. | 12Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. |
| 13The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock. | 13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. |
| 14Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them. | 14Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them. |
| 15The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the LORD had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. | 15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among the tribes of Israel. |
| 16The elders of the congregation said, "What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?" | 16So the elders of the assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? |
| 17They said, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. | 17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. |
| 18But we can't give them our daughters as wives." For the Israelites had sworn, "Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed." | 18But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.” |
| 19They 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." | 19Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. |
| 20Then they commanded the Benjaminites: "Go and hide in the vineyards. | 20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. |
| 21Watch, 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. | 21When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife! |
| 22When 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.'" | 22And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.’” |
| 23The 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. | 23So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them. |
| 24At that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and family. Each returned from there to his own inheritance. | 24Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes. |
| 25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him. | 25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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