| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” | 1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, "None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage." |
| 2Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly. | 2So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. |
| 3“O LORD, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!” | 3They said, "Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?" |
| 4Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. | 4It came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. |
| 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. | 5Then the sons of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who 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 at Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death." |
| 6The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. | 6And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel today. |
| 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?” | 7"What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?" |
| 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. | 8And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. |
| 9For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present. | 9For when the people were numbered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. |
| 10So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. | 10And the congregation sent 12,000 of the valiant warriors there, and commanded them, saying, "Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the little ones. |
| 11“This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” | 11"This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every man and every woman who has lain with a man." |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. | 13Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to 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. | 14Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh-gilead; yet they were not enough for them. |
| 15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among the tribes of Israel. | 15And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. |
| 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? | 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?" |
| 17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. | 17They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. |
| 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.” | 18"But we cannot give them wives of our daughters." For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin." |
| 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. | 19So they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah." |
| 20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. | 20And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, |
| 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! | 21and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. |
| 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.’” | 22"It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, 'Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'" |
| 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. | 23The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them. |
| 24Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes. | 24The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and each one of them went out from there to his inheritance. |
| 25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. | 25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. |
| 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. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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