| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” | 1The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, "Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite." |
| 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, weeping loudly and uncontrollably. |
| 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 happened in Israel?" An entire tribe has disappeared from Israel today!" |
| 4Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. | 4The next morning the people got up early and built an altar there. They offered up burnt sacrifices and token of peace. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 6The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. | 6The Israelites regretted what had happened to their brother Benjamin. They said, "Today we cut off an entire tribe from Israel! |
| 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?” | 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." |
| 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. | 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 after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present. | 9When they took roll call, they noticed none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there. |
| 10So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including 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. |
| 11“This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. | 13The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed. |
| 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. | 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 Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among 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 assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? | 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. |
| 17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. | 17The remnant of Benjamin must be preserved. An entire Israelite tribe should not be wiped out. |
| 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.” | 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 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. | 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." |
| 20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. | 20So they commanded the Benjaminites, "Go hide 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 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. |
| 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.’” | 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 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 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. |
| 24Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes. | 24Then the Israelites dispersed from there to their respective tribal and clan territories. Each went from there to his own property. |
| 25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. | 25In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. |
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