| English Standard Version | International Standard Version |
| 1Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” | 1Now the people of Israel had taken a vow in Mizpah that went like this: "Not even one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a descendant of Benjamin!" |
| 2And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. | 2So the people went to Bethel, sat before God until dusk, where they cried out loud and wept bitterly. |
| 3And they said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” | 3"Why, LORD God of Israel," they asked him, "is one tribe missing from Israel?" |
| 4And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. | 4The next day, the people got up early, built an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. |
| 5And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” | 5The Israelis asked themselves, "Who didn't come up in our assembly in the LORD's presence from among all of the tribes of Israel?" They had taken a solemn oath concerning those who didn't come up to meet with the LORD at Mizpah that "They will certainly be executed." |
| 6And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. | 6But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, "One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today! |
| 7What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?” | 7What can we do to find wives for the survivors who remain, since we've already taken an oath in the LORD's presence not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?" |
| 8And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. | 8They asked, "What one group of the tribes of Israel didn't come up to meet the LORD at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one had come to the encampment from Jabesh-gilead, |
| 9For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. | 9since when they took a census of the assembly, not even one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was in attendance. |
| 10So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. | 10So the congregation sent out 12,000 of their valiant soldiers, issuing these orders to them: "Go and attack the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with swords, including the women and little ones. |
| 11This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” | 11You're to completely destroy every man and every married woman." |
| 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. | 12They discovered among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who hadn't had sex with a man, and they brought them to the encampment at Shiloh in the territory of Canaan. |
| 13Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. | 13Then the entire congregation sent for the surviving descendants of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon and assured them that their intentions toward them were peaceful. |
| 14And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. | 14So the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time, and the Israelis gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the raid on Jabesh-gilead. Even so, there weren't enough for them. |
| 15And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. | 15The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the LORD had broken one of the tribes of Israel. |
| 16Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” | 16So the elders of the congregation asked, "What will we do to obtain wives for the survivors, since the women of Benjamin have been devastated?" |
| 17And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. | 17They continued, "Let's make sure that there's an inheritance for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin, so that a tribe won't be blotted out from Israel. |
| 18Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” | 18But we can't give them wives from our own daughters, since we've taken this vow: 'May the LORD curse anyone who gives his daughter as a wife to the tribe of Benjamin!'" |
| 19So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” | 19So they concluded, "Look, there's a festival to the LORD every year in Shiloh on the north side of Bethel, south of Lebonah and on the east side of the highway that runs from Bethel to Shechem…" |
| 20And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards | 20So they told the descendants of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. |
| 21and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. | 21Watch when the unmarried women from Shiloh come out to participate in the dances. Then come out of the vineyards and each of you grab a wife from the unmarried women from Shiloh. Then go back home to the territory of Benjamin. |
| 22And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” | 22If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we'll tell them 'Be generous! Give them to us voluntarily, because we didn't take anyone to be a wife for the men of the tribe of Benjamin as a result of the battle. And you haven't incurred guilt by giving your daughters to them.'" |
| 23And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. | 23So the descendants of Benjamin did all of this: they chose and carried away just enough wives from those who danced to meet the number needed, then they left to return to their inheritance, to rebuild their cities, and to live there. |
| 24And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. | 24The Israelis left there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each of them went down from there to his territorial allotment. |
| 25In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. | 25Back in those days, Israel didn't yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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