| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” | 1The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” |
| 2And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. | 2Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and 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“O LORD, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!” |
| 4And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. | 4Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. |
| 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.” | 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. |
| 6And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. | 6The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. |
| 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?” | 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?” |
| 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. | 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 people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. | 9For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present. |
| 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 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 shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” | 11“This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. | 13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 15And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. | 15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among 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 assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? |
| 17And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. | 17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. |
| 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 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.” |
| 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.” | 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. |
| 20And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards | 20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “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. | 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! |
| 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.’” | 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.’” |
| 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 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. |
| 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. | 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 what was right in his own eyes. | 25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. |
| 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. | 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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