Dommer 21
1 Og Israels Mænd havde svoret i Mizpa og sagt: Der skal ingen af os give Benjamin sin Datter til Hustru.
When the Israeli men gathered at Mizpah [before the battle started], they vowed, “None of us will ever allow one of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin!”
2 Og Folket kom til Guds Hus, og de bleve der indtil Aftenen for Guds Ansigt; og de opløftede deres Røst og græd med en stor Graad.
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 Og de sagde: Herre, Israels Gud! hvorfor er dette sket i Israel, at i Dag een Stamme savnes af Israel?
They kept saying, “Yahweh, God of us Israeli people, [it is as though] one of the tribes of us Israelis does not exist any more! (Why has this happened to us?/It is terrible that this has happened to us!)” [RHQ]
4 Og det skete den anden Dag, da stod Folket aarle op, og de byggede der et Alter, og de ofrede Brændofre og Takofre.
Early the next morning the people built an altar. Then they completely burned some sacrifices [on the altar], and also offered other sacrifices to maintain fellowship with God.
5 Og Israels Børn sagde: Hvo er den, som ikke er kommen med op til Forsamlingen af alle Israels Stammer til Herren? Thi der var svoret en høj Ed imod den, som ikke kom op til Herren i Mizpa, saa der sagdes: Han skal visseligen dødes.
Then, because they had vowed that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah [to help fight the men of the tribe of Benjamin] would be killed, they asked among themselves, “Were there any of the tribes of Israel who did not come to Mizpah to meet with us in the presence of Yahweh?”
6 Og det gjorde Israels Børn ondt for deres Broder Benjamin, og de sagde: I Dag er een Stamme afhuggen af Israel.
The Israelis felt sorry for their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin. They said, “Today one of our Israeli tribes (has disappeared/no longer exists).
7 Hvad ville vi gøre dem, som ere overblevne, at de kunne faa Hustruer? thi vi have svoret ved Herren, at vi ikke ville give dem af vore Døtre til Hustruer.
Yahweh heard us solemnly declare that we would not allow any of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin. What can we do to make certain that the men of the tribe of Benjamin who were not killed will have wives?”
8 Og de sagde: Hvad er det for en af Israels Stammer, som ikke er kommen op til Herren i Mizpa? Og se, der var ingen Mand kommen til Lejren fra Jabes i Gilead til Forsamlingen.
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 Thi Folket blev talt; og se, da var der ingen af Indbyggerne fra Jabes i Gilead.
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 Da sendte de derhen af Menigheden tolv Tusinde Mand af Stridsfolkene; og de bøde dem og sagde: Gaar hen og slaar Indbyggerne i Jabes i Gilead med skarpe Sværd, samt Hustruerne og de smaa Børn.
So all the Israelis decided to send 12,000 very good soldiers to Jabesh-Gilead to kill the people there with their swords, even to kill the married women and children.
11 Og denne er den Gerning, som I skulle gøre: Alt Mandkøn og alle Kvinder, som have haft Samkvem med nogen Mand, skulle I ødelægge.
[They told this to those men]: “This is what you must do: You must kill every man in Jabesh-Gilead. You must also kill every married woman. [But do not kill the unmarried women].”
12 Og de fandt af Indbyggerne i Jabes i Gilead fire Hundrede unge Piger, Jomfruer, som ikke havde kendt nogen Mand og ikke haft Samkvem med nogen Mand, og de førte dem til Lejren i Silo, som er i Landet Kanaan.
So those soldiers [went to Jabesh-Gilead and killed all the men, married women, and children. But they] found 400 unmarried young women there. So they brought them to their camp at Shiloh, in Canaan, [across the river from the Gilead area that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin].
13 Da sendte den ganske Menighed hen, og de lode tale med Benjamins Børn, som vare paa Klippen Bimmon; og de tilbøde dem Fred.
Then all the Israelis [who had gathered] sent a message to the 600 men who were at Rimmon Rock. They said that they would like to make peace with them.
14 Saa kom Benjamin tilbage paa samme Tid, og de gave dem de Hustruer, som de havde ladet leve af Kvinderne fra Jabes i Gilead; og de fandt ikke saaledes nok til dem.
So the men came back from Rimmon Rock. The Israelis gave to them the women from Jabesh-Gilead whom they had not killed. But there were [only 400 women. But there were] not enough women [for those 600 men].
15 Da gjorde det Folket ondt for Benjamin, fordi Herren havde gjort et Skaar i Israels Stammer.
The Israelis [still] felt sorry for the men of the tribe of Benjamin, because Yahweh had (decimated/almost wiped out) one of the Israeli tribes.
16 Og Menighedens Ældste sagde: Hvad skulle vi gøre ved de overblevne, at de kunne faa Hustruer? thi Kvinderne af Benjamin ere udryddede.
The Israeli leaders said, “We have killed all the married women of the tribe of Benjamin. Where can we get women to be wives of the men who are still alive?
17 Og de sagde: De undkomnes Ejendom skal høre Benjamin til, at ikke een Stamme skal blive udslettet af Israel.
These men must have wives to give birth to children, in order that their families will continue. If that does not happen, all the people of one of the tribes of Israel will die.
18 Men vi kunne ikke give dem Hustruer af vore Døtre; thi Israels Børn have svoret og sagt: Forbandet være den, som giver Benjamin en Hustru!
But we cannot allow our daughters to marry these men, because we vowed that Yahweh will curse anyone who gives one of his daughters to become a wife of any man of the tribe of Benjamin.”
19 Og de sagde: Se, der er Aar for Aar Herrens Højtid i Silo, som ligger Nord for Bethel, mod Solens Opgang, paa den alfare Vej, som gaar op fra Bethel til Sikem, og Syd for Lebona.
Then [one of] them (had an idea/thought of something that they could do). He said, “Every year there is a festival to honor Yahweh at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel and east of the road that extends from Bethel to Shechem, and it is south of Lebonah [city].”
20 Og de befalede Benjamins Børn og sagde: Gaar hen og lurer i Vingaardene!
So the Israeli leaders told the men of the tribe of Benjamin, “[When it is the time for that festival], go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards.
21 Og I skulle se til, og se, dersom Silos Døtre gaa ud at danse, da maa I gaa ud af Vingaardene og gribe eder hver sin Hustru af Silos Døtre, og I skulle gaa til Benjamins Land.
Keep watching for the young women to come out of the city to dance. [When they come out], all of you should run out of the vineyards. Each of you can seize one of the young women of Shiloh. Then you can all return to your homes [with those women].
22 Og det skal ske, naar deres Fædre eller deres Brødre komme at gaa i Rette med os, da ville vi sige til dem: Værer dem naadige for vor Skyld, fordi vi ikke have skaffet dem hver sin Hustru i Krigen; thi I have heller ikke givet dem Hustruer; eller skulle I nu have været skyldige.
If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain [about what you have done], we will say to them, ‘Be kind to the men of the tribe of Benjamin. When we fought them, we did not leave any women alive to become their wives, and you did not give those young women to the men from the tribe of Benjamin. [They stole them]. So you will not be guilty, [even though you said that you would not allow any of your daughters to marry one of them].’”
23 Og Benjamins Børn gjorde saaledes og toge Hustruer efter deres Tal af dem, som dansede, hvilke de røvede; og de gik og kom tilbage til deres Arv og byggede Stæderne og boede i dem.
So that is what the men of the tribe of Benjamin did. [They went to Shiloh at the time of the festival]. And when the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them and took her away and married her. Then they took their wives back to the land that God had given to them. They rebuilt their cities [that had been burned down], and they lived there.
24 Saa vandrede Israels Børn derfra paa samme Tid, hver til sin Stamme og til sin Slægt; og de udgik derfra, hver til sin Arv.
The other Israelis went to their homes in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
25 I disse Dage var ingen Konge i Israel; hver gjorde det, som var ret for hans Øjne.
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
