Judges 21
1 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!”
Now, the men of Israel, had sworn in Mizpah, saying, —Not a man from among us, shall give his daughter unto Benjamin, to wife.
2 But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
So then the people came to Bethel, and abode there, until the evening, before God, —and lifted up their voice, and wept bitterly,
3 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]
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?
4 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.
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.
5 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?”
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.
6 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).
And the sons of Israel grieved for Benjamin, their brother, —and they said, There is cut off, to-day, one tribe out of Israel.
7 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?”
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?
8 Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
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:
9 [They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
When the people were numbered, lo! there was not there a man of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.
10 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.
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.
11 [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].”
And, this, is the thing that ye shall do, —Every male, and every woman that hath cohabited with man, shall ye devote to destruction.
12 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].
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.
13 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.
Then the whole assembly sent, and spake unto the sons of Benjamin, who were in the cliff Rimmon, —and proclaimed to them, peace.
14 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].
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.
15 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.
Now, the assembly, had grieved for Benjamin, —because Yahweh had made a breach, in the tribes of Israel.
16 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?
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?
17 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.
And they said, There is an inheritance for the escaped of Benjamin, —and there must not be wiped out, a tribe, out of Israel.
18 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.”
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.
19 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].”
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.
20 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.
And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, —Go and lie in wait in the vineyards;
21 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].
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.
22 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].’”
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.
23 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.
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.
24 The other Israelis went to their homes in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
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.
25 At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
In those days, there was no king in Israel, —every man did, that which was right in his own eyes.
