| International Standard Version | King James Bible |
| 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!" | 1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. |
| 2So the people went to Bethel, sat before God until dusk, where they cried out loud and wept bitterly. | 2And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; |
| 3"Why, LORD God of Israel," they asked him, "is one tribe missing from Israel?" | 3And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? |
| 4The next day, the people got up early, built an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. | 4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. |
| 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." | 5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. |
| 6But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, "One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today! | 6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. |
| 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?" | 7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives? |
| 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, | 8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly. |
| 9since when they took a census of the assembly, not even one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was in attendance. | 9For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. |
| 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. | 10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children. |
| 11You're to completely destroy every man and every married woman." | 11And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. |
| 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. | 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. |
| 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. | 13And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto 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. | 14And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not. |
| 15The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the LORD had broken one of the tribes of Israel. | 15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. |
| 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?" | 16Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? |
| 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. | 17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. |
| 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!'" | 18Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin. |
| 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…" | 19Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah. |
| 20So they told the descendants of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. | 20Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; |
| 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. | 21And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. |
| 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.'" | 22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty. |
| 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. | 23And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them. |
| 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. | 24And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance. |
| 25Back in those days, Israel didn't yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion. | 25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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