< Judges 21 >

1 Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.
Iuraverunt quoque filii Israel in Maspha et dixerunt: Nullus nostrum dabit filiis Beniamin de filiabus suis uxorem.
2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
Veneruntque omnes ad domum Dei in Silo, et in conspectu eius sedentes usque ad vesperam, levaverunt vocem, et magno ululatu cœperunt flere, dicentes:
3 And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
Quare Domine Deus Israel factum est hoc malum in populo tuo, ut hodie una tribus auferretur ex nobis?
4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Altera autem die diluculo consurgentes, extruxerunt altare: obtuleruntque ibi holocausta, et pacificas victimas, et dixerunt:
5 And the children of Israel said, Who [is there] among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
Quis non ascendit in exercitu Domini de universis tribubus Israel? Grandi enim iuramento se constrinxerant, cum essent in Maspha, interfici eos qui defuissent.
6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
Ductique pœnitentia filii Israel super fratre suo Beniamin, cœperunt dicere: Ablata est tribus una de Israel,
7 How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
unde uxores accipient? omnes enim in commune iuravimus, non daturos nos his filias nostras.
8 And they said, What one [is there] of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.
Idcirco dixerunt: Quis est de universis tribubus Israel, qui non ascendit ad Dominum in Maspha? Et ecce inventi sunt habitatores Iabes Galaad in illo exercitu non fuisse.
9 For the people were numbered, and, behold, [there were] none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.
(Eo quoque tempore cum essent in Silo, nullus ex eis ibi repertus est.)
10 And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
Miserunt itaque decem millia viros robustissimos, et præceperunt eis: Ite, et percutite habitatores Iabes Galaad in ore gladii, tam uxores quam parvulos eorum.
11 And this [is] the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
Et hoc erit quod observare debebitis: Omne generis masculini, et mulieres, quæ cognoverunt viros, interficite, virgines autem reservate.
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan.
Inventæque sunt de Iabes Galaad quadringentæ virgines, quæ nescierunt viri thorum, et adduxerunt eas ad castra in Silo, in Terram Chanaan.
13 And the whole congregation sent [some] to speak to the children of Benjamin that [were] in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
Miseruntque nuncios ad filios Beniamin, qui erant in Petra Remmon, et præceperunt eis, ut eos susciperent in pace.
14 And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
Veneruntque filii Beniamin in illo tempore, et datæ sunt eis uxores de filiabus Iabes Galaad: alias autem non repererunt, quas simili modo traderent.
15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
Universusque Israel valde doluit, et egit pœnitentiam super interfectione unius tribus ex Israel.
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?
Dixeruntque maiores natu: Quid faciemus reliquis, qui non acceperunt uxores? omnes in Beniamin feminæ conciderunt,
17 And they said, [There must be] an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
et magna nobis cura, ingentique studio providendum est, ne una tribus deleatur ex Israel.
18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters: for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed [be] he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
Filias enim nostras eis dare non possumus, constricti iuramento et maledictione, qua diximus: Maledictus qui dederit de filiabus suis uxorem Beniamin.
19 Then they said, Behold, [there is] a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly [in a place] which [is] on the north side of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
Ceperuntque consilium, atque dixerunt: Ecce sollemnitas Domini est in Silo anniversaria, quæ sita est ad Septentrionem urbis Bethel, et ad Orientalem plagam viæ, quæ de Bethel tendit ad Sichimam, et ad Meridiem oppidi Lebona.
20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
Præceperuntque filiis Beniamin, atque dixerunt: Ite, ad latitate in vineis.
21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Cumque videritis filias Silo ad ducendos choros ex more procedere, exite repente de vineis, et rapite ex eis singuli uxores singulas, et pergite in Terram Beniamin.
22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, [that] ye should be guilty.
Cumque venerint patres earum, ac fratres, et adversum vos queri cœperint, atque iurgari, dicemus eis: Miseremini eorum: non enim rapuerunt eas iure bellantium atque victorum, sed rogantibus ut acciperent, non dedistis, et a vestra parte peccatum est.
23 And the children of Benjamin did so, and took [them] wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.
Feceruntque filii Beniamin, ut sibi fuerat imperatum: et iuxta numerum suum rapuerunt sibi de his, quæ ducebant choros, uxores singulas: abieruntque in possessionem suam ædificantes urbes, et habitantes in eis.
24 And the children of Israel departed thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family, and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.
Filii quoque Israel reversi sunt per tribus, et familias in tabernacula sua.
25 In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
In diebus illis non erat rex in Israel: sed unusquisque quod sibi rectum videbatur, hoc faciebat.

< Judges 21 >