Dommer 21
1 Men Israels Mænd havde i Mizpa aflagt den Ed: "Ingen af os vil give en Benjaminit sin Datter til Ægte!"
Now the men of Israel had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, Not one of us will give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin.
2 Da nu Folket var kommet til Betel, sad de der lige til Aften for Guds Åsyn og opløftede deres Røst, græd heftigt
And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.
3 og sagde: "Hvorfor, HERRE, Israels Gud, er dog dette hændet i Israel, så at vi i Dag må savne en Stamme af Israel?"
And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel?
4 Tidligt næste Morgen byggede Folket et Alter der og ofrede Brændofre og Takofre.
Then on the day after, the people got up early and made an altar there, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings.
5 Derpå sagde Israelitterne: "Hvem blandt alle Israels Stammer undlod at drage op med Forsamlingen til HERREN?" Der var nemlig svoret en dyr Ed på, at enhver, der undlod at drage op til HERREN i Mizpa, skulde dø.
And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, who did not come up to the Lord at the meeting of all Israel? For they had taken a great oath that whoever did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord was to be put to death.
6 Men nu gjorde det Israelitterne ondt for deres Broder Benjamin, og de sagde: "I Dag er en Stamme hugget af Israel!
And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
7 Hvad skal vi gøre for dem, der er tilbage, for at skaffe dem Hustruer, eftersom vi har svoret ved HERREN, at vi ikke vil give dem nogen af vore Døtre fil Ægte?"
What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives.
8 Så spurgte de: "Er der måske en af Israels Stammer, der undlod at drage op til HERREN i Mizpa?" Og se, der var ingen kommet til Lejren, til Forsamlingen, fra Jabesj i Gilead.
And they said, Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And it was seen that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead to the meeting.
9 Så blev Folket mønstret, og se, der var ingen af Indbyggerne fra Jabesj i Gilead.
For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present.
10 Da sendte Menigheden 12000 Mand af de tapreste Folk derhen med den Befaling: "Drag hen og hug Indbyggerne i Jabesj i Gilead ned med Sværdet tillige med deres Kvinder og Børn.
So they (the meeting) sent twelve thousand of the best fighting-men, and gave them orders, saying, Go and put the people of Jabesh-gilead to the sword without mercy, with their women and their little ones.
11 Således skal I bære eder ad: Alle af Mandkøn og alle Kvinder, der har haft Omgang med Mænd, skal I lægge Band på!"
And this is what you are to do: every male, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man, you are to put to the curse, but you are to keep safe the virgins. And they did so.
12 De fandt så hos Indbyggerne i Jabesj i Gilead 400 unge Piger, der var Jomfruer og ikke havde haft Omgang med nogen Mand, og dem førte de til Lejren i Silo i Kana'ans Land.
Now there were among the people of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never had sex relations with a man; these they took to their tents in Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 Derpå sendte hele Menigheden Sendebud hen for af underhandle med Benjaminiterne, der befandt sig på Rimmons Klippe, og tilbyde dem Fred.
And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace.
14 På det Tidspunkt vendte Benjaminiterne så tilbage, og de gav dem de Kvinder fra Jabesj i Gilead, som man havde ladet i Live. Men de var ikke nok til dem.
Then Benjamin came back; and they gave them the women whom they had kept from death among the women of Jabesh-gilead: but still there were not enough for them.
15 Da gjorde det Folket ondt for Benjamin, fordi HERREN havde gjort et Skår i Israels Stammer.
And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel.
16 Og Menighedens Ældste sagde: "Hvad skal vi gøre for dem, der er tilbage, for at skaffe dem Hustruer, eftersom alle Kvinder i Benjamin er udryddet?"
Then the responsible men of the meeting said, What are we to do about wives for the rest of them, seeing that the women of Benjamin are dead?
17 Og de sagde: "Hvorledes kan der reddes en Rest af Benjamin, så at ikke en Stamme i Israel går til Grunde?
And they said, How is the rest of Benjamin to be given offspring so that one tribe of Israel may not be put out of existence,
18 Vi kan jo ikke give dem nogen af vore Døtre til Ægte!" Israelitterne havde nemlig svoret og sagt: "Forbandet være den, som giver Benjaminiterne en Hustru!"
Seeing that we may not give them our daughters as wives? For the children of Israel had taken an oath, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.
19 Da sagde de: "Se, HERRENs Højtid fejres jo hvert År i Silo!" Det ligger norden for Betel, østen for Vejen, der fører op fra Betel til Sikem, og sønden for Lebona.
And they said, See, every year there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is to the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway which goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
20 Og de bød Benjaminiterne: "Gå hen og læg eder på Lur i Vingårdene!
And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly,
21 Se så nøje til, og når de unge Kvinder fra Silo kommer ud for at opføre deres Danse, skal I komme frem af Vingårdene og røve hver sin Hustru af de unge Kvinder fra Silo og så drage hjem til Benjamins Land!
And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin.
22 Når så deres Fædre eller Brødre kommer for at gå i Rette med eder, skal I sige til dem: Skån os, thi vi fik os ikke alle en Hustru i Krigen! Det er jo ikke eder, der har givet os dem; i så Fald vilde I have forbrudt eder!"
And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath.
23 Det gjorde Benjaminiterne da, og de tog sig Hustruer af de dansende Kvinder, som de røvede, een til hver; derpå vendte de tilbage til deres Arvelod, opbyggede deres Byer og boede i dem.
So the men of Benjamin did this, and got wives for themselves for every one of their number, taking them away by force from the dance; then they went back to their heritage, building up their towns and living in them.
24 Og samtidig drog Israelitterne derfra, hver til sin Stamme og Slægt, og de gik derfra hver til sin Arvelod,
Then the children of Israel went away from there, every man to his tribe and his family, every man went back to his heritage.
25 I de Dage var der ingen Konge i Israel; enhver gjorde, hvad han fandt for godt.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.
