| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” | 1The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, "Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite." |
| 2Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, | 2So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. |
| 3and said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?” | 3They said, "Why, O LORD God of Israel, has this happened in Israel?" An entire tribe has disappeared from Israel today!" |
| 4So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, 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 children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” | 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. |
| 6And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off 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 shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?” | 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." |
| 8And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. | 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. |
| 9For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. | 9When they took roll call, they noticed none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there. |
| 10So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. | 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. |
| 11And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.” | 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. |
| 12So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land 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 whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them. | 13The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed. |
| 14So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found 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. |
| 15And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel. | 15The people regretted what had happened to Benjamin because the LORD had weakened the Israelite tribes. |
| 16Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” | 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. |
| 17And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. | 17The remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out. |
| 18However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to 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!' |
| 19Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” | 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." |
| 20Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, | 20So they commanded the Benjaminites, "Go hide in the vineyards, |
| 21and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land 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. |
| 22Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ” | 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.'" |
| 23And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. | 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. |
| 24So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance. | 24Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property. |
| 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. Each man did what he considered to be right. |
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