Judges 21
1 Now, the men of Israel, had sworn in Mizpah, saying, —Not a man from among us, shall give his daughter unto Benjamin, to wife.
The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, “None of us will allow our daughters to marry a Benjamite.”
2 So then the people came to Bethel, and abode there, until the evening, before God, —and lifted up their voice, and wept bitterly,
The Israelites went to Bethel and sat there before God until the evening, crying loudly in distress.
3 and said, Wherefore, O Yahweh, God of Israel, hath this come about in Israel, —that there should be lacking, to-day, out of Israel, one tribe?
“Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel?” they asked. “Today one of our tribes is missing from Israel.”
4 And it came to pass, on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there, an altar, —and offered ascending-sacrifices, and peace-offerings.
The next day they got up early, built an altar, and brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings.
5 And the sons of Israel said, Who was there that came not up, in the convocation, out of all the tribes of Israel, unto Yahweh? For, the great oath, had been taken, as to any who came not up unto Yahweh at Mizpah, saying—He shall be, put to death.
“Which of all the tribes of Israel didn't attend the assembly we held before the Lord?” they asked. For they had sworn a sacred oath that anyone who did not come before the Lord at Mizpah would without exception be executed.
6 And the sons of Israel grieved for Benjamin, their brother, —and they said, There is cut off, to-day, one tribe out of Israel.
The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin, saying, “Today one tribe has been hacked off from Israel!
7 What are we to do for them who remain, for wives, —seeing that, we ourselves, have sworn by Yahweh, not to give them of our daughters, for wives?
What shall we do about wives for those who are left, since we have sworn an oath before the Lord that we will not allow any of our daughters to marry them?”
8 So they said, What one of the tribes of Israel is there, that hath not come up unto Yahweh at Mizpah? And lo! no man had come into the camp, out of Jabesh-gilead, unto the convocation:
Then they asked, “Which one of all the tribes of Israel didn't attend the assembly we held before the Lord at Mizpah?” They found out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly,
9 When the people were numbered, lo! there was not there a man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
for once they had done a head count, there was nobody there from Jabesh-gilead.
10 So the assembly sent thither twelve thousand men, of the sons of valour, —and commanded them, saying: —Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, with the edge of the sword, with the women, and the little ones.
So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their best warriors there. They gave them orders, saying, “Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with your swords, even the women and children.
11 And, this, is the thing that ye shall do, —Every male, and every woman that hath cohabited with man, shall ye devote to destruction.
This is what you have to do: Destroy every male and every woman who has had sex with a man.”
12 And they found—of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead—four hundred young women, virgins, who had not cohabited with man, —so they brought them into the camp, at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
They managed to find among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred virgins who had not had sex with a man. They took them to the camp in Shiloh, in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent, and spake unto the sons of Benjamin, who were in the cliff Rimmon, —and proclaimed to them, peace.
Then the whole assembly sent a message to the Benjamites at Pomegranate Rock to tell them, “Peace!”
14 So Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, —but they found not for them [to suffice], even so.
So the men of Benjamin went back home, and gave to them the four hundred women from Jabesh-gilead who had been spared as wives. However, there wasn't enough for all of them.
15 Now, the assembly, had grieved for Benjamin, —because Yahweh had made a breach, in the tribes of Israel.
The people felt sorry for the Benjamites because the Lord had made this empty hole among the Israelite tribes.
16 So then, the elders of the assembly said, What are we to do for them who remain, for wives, —for womankind, hath been destroyed out of Benjamin?
The elders of the assembly asked, “What shall we do to supply the remaining wives because all the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
17 And they said, There is an inheritance for the escaped of Benjamin, —and there must not be wiped out, a tribe, out of Israel.
They added, “There have to be heirs for the Benjamite survivors—an Israelite tribe of Israel can't be wiped out.
18 Yet, we, may not give them wives, of our own daughters, For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed, be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.
But we can't let them have our daughters as wives, since we as the people of Israel swore a sacred oath, saying, ‘Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite is cursed!’”
19 Then said they—Lo! the festival of Yahweh in Shiloh, from year to year, Which [Shiloh] is on the north of Bethel, towards sunrise, by the highway that goeth up from Bethel, towards Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.
Then they said, “Look! Every year there's the Lord's festival in Shiloh. It's held north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, south of Lebonah.”
20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, —Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
So they ordered the Benjamites, “Go and hide in the vineyards.
21 and look, and lo! if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then shall ye come forth out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife, of the daughters of Shiloh, —and go your way to the land of Benjamin.
Keep a lookout, and when you see the young women from Shiloh come out to perform their dances, run out from the vineyards, and each of you abduct a wife for yourself and go back home to the land of Benjamin.
22 And it shall be, when their fathers, or their brethren, come in to complain to us, that we will say unto them—As a favour to us, grant them, because we took not for each man his wife in the battle, —for, ye yourselves, gave them not unto them, so as, now, to be guilty.
If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we'll tell them, ‘Please do us a favor, because we couldn't find enough wives for them in the war. And it's not as if you're guilty of breaking the oath since you didn't give them in marriage.”
23 And the sons of Benjamin did so, and carried off wives, according to their number, of them who were dancing, whom they seized, —and they went their way, and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt therein.
The Benjaminites did as they were ordered. Each man grabbed one of the women dancers up to the total needed and carried her off to be his wife. Then they went back to their own land, where they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.
24 And the sons of Israel at that time went their several ways from thence, every man to his own tribe, and to his own family, —yea they went forth from thence, every man to his own inheritance.
Then the Israelites left and went home to their tribes and families, each one going to the land they owned.
25 In those days, there was no king in Israel, —every man did, that which was right in his own eyes.
At that time Israel didn't have a king—everyone did what they themselves thought was the right thing to do.
