Judges 21
1 Moreouer, the men of Israel sware in Mizpeh, saying, None of vs shall giue his daughter vnto the Beniamites to wyfe.
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 And the people came vnto ye house of God and abode there till euen before God, and lift vp their voyces, and wept with great lamentation,
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 And sayde, O Lord God of Israel, why is this come to passe in Israel, that this day one tribe of Israel should want?
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 And on the morow the people rose vp and made there an altar, and offred burnt offrings and peace offrings.
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 Then the children of Israel said, Who is he among all the tribes of Israel, that came not vp with the Congregation vnto the Lord? for they had made a great othe concerning him that came not vp to the Lord to Mizpeh, saying, Let him die the death.
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 And the children of Israel were sory for Beniamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
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 How shall we do for wiues to them that remaine, seeing we haue sworne by the Lord, that we will not giue them of our daughters to wiues?
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 Also they saide, Is there any of the tribes of Israel that came not vp to Mizpeh to the Lord? and beholde, there came none of Iabesh Gilead vnto the hoste and to the Congregation.
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 For when the people were vewed; beholde, none of the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead were there.
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 Therefore the Congregation sent thither twelue thousande men of the most valiant, and commanded them, saying, Goe, and smite the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, both women, and children.
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 And this is it that ye shall do: ye shall vtterly destroye all the males and all the women that haue lien by men.
[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 And they found among the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead foure hundreth maides, virgins that had knowne no man by lying with any male: and they brought them vnto the hoste to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
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 Then the whole Congregation sent and spake with the children of Beniamin that were in the rocke of Rimmon, and called peaceably vnto them:
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 And Beniamin came againe at that time, and they gaue them wiues which they had saued aliue of the women of Iabesh Gilead: but they had not so ynough for them.
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 And the people were sorie for Beniamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
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 Therefore the Elders of the Congregation said, How shall we doe for wiues to the remnant? for the women of Beniamin are destroyed.
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 And they saide, there must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Beniamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of 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 Howbeit we may not giue them wiues of our daughters: for the childre of Israel had sworne, saying, Cursed be he that giueth a wise to Beniamin.
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 Therefore they said, Beholde, there is a feast of the Lord euery yere in Shiloh in a place, which is on the Northside of Beth-el, and on the Eastside of the way that goeth vp from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the South of Lebonah.
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 Therefore they commanded the children of Beniamin, saying, Goe, and lye in waite in the vineyardes.
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 And when ye see that the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catche you euery man a wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and goe into the land of Beniamin.
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 And when their fathers or their brethren come vnto vs to complaine, we wil say vnto them, Haue pitie on them for our sakes, because we reserued not to eche man his wife in the warre, and because ye haue not giuen vnto them hitherto, ye haue sinned.
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 And the children of Beniamin did so, and tooke wiues of them that danced according to their nomber: which they tooke, and went away, and returned to their inheritance, and repaired the cities and dwelt in them.
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 So the children of Israel departed thence at that time, euery man to his tribe, and to his familie, and went out from thence euery man to his inheritance.
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 In those dayes there was no King in Israel, but euery man did that which was good in his eyes.
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
