| International Standard Version | NET 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!" | 1The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, "Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite." |
| 2So the people went to Bethel, sat before God until dusk, where they cried out loud and wept bitterly. | 2So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. |
| 3"Why, LORD God of Israel," they asked him, "is one tribe missing from Israel?" | 3They said, "Why, O LORD God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?" An entire tribe has disappeared from Israel today!" |
| 4The next day, the people got up early, built an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. | 4The next morning the people got up early and built an altar there. They offered up burnt sacrifices and token of peace. |
| 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." | 5The Israelites asked, "Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the LORD?" They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the LORD at Mizpah must certainly be executed. |
| 6But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, "One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today! | 6The Israelites regretted what had happened to their brother Benjamin. They said, "Today we cut off an entire tribe from Israel! |
| 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 can we find wives for those who are left? After all, we took an oath in the LORD's name not to give them our daughters as 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, | 8So they asked, "Who from all the Israelite tribes did not assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?" Now it just so happened no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the gathering. |
| 9since when they took a census of the assembly, not even one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was in attendance. | 9When they took roll call, they noticed none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were 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. | 10So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors against Jabesh Gilead. They commanded them, "Go and kill with your swords the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children. |
| 11You're to completely destroy every man and every married woman." | 11Do this: exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has had sexual relations with a male. But spare the lives of any virgins." So they did as instructed. |
| 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. | 12They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young girls who were virgins--they had never had sexual relations with a male. They brought them back to the camp at Shiloh 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. | 13The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed. |
| 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. | 14The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around. |
| 15The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the LORD had broken one of the tribes of Israel. | 15The people regretted what had happened to Benjamin because the LORD had weakened the Israelite tribes. |
| 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?" | 16The leaders of the assembly said, "How can we find wives for those who are left? After all, the Benjaminite women have been wiped out. |
| 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. | 17The remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out. |
| 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!'" | 18But we can't allow our daughters to marry them, for the Israelites took an oath, saying, 'Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!' |
| 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…" | 19However, there is an annual festival to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah." |
| 20So they told the descendants of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards. | 20So they commanded the Benjaminites, "Go hide 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 keep your eyes open. When you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home 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.'" | 22When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us, we'll say to them, "Do us a favor and let them be, for we could not get each one a wife through battle. Don't worry about breaking your oath! You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.'" |
| 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. | 23The Benjaminites did as instructed. They abducted two hundred of the dancing girls to be their wives. They went home to their own territory, rebuilt their cities, and settled down. |
| 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. | 24Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property. |
| 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 Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. |
|
