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!”
Ke mwet Israel elos tuh toeni in acn Mizpah, elos orala sie wulela ku inmasrlolos nu sin LEUM GOD ac fahk, “Wangin sie sesr ac fah fuhlela mwet Benjamin in payuk sin acn natusr.”
2 But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
Ke ma inge mwet Israel elos som nu Bethel ac muta we ye mutun God nwe ke ekela. Elos tung ac mwemelil ac fahk,
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]
“O LEUM GOD lun Israel, efu ku ma inge sikyak nu sesr— Efu ku sruf lal Benjamin in wanginla liki Israel?”
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.
Toang in lutu tok ah mwet uh tukakek ac tulokunak sie loang we. Elos orek mwe kisa in akinsewowo ac mwe kisa firir.
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?”
Ac elos siyuk, “Ya oasr sie inmasrlon sruf lun Israel inge tia wi tukeni ye mutun LEUM GOD in acn Mizpah?” (Elos tuh wulela mu kutena mwet su tia wi som nu ke toeni se orek Mizpah ah, ac fah anwuki.)
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).
Mwet Israel elos arulana pakomuta mwet wialos in sruf lal Benjamin, ac elos fahk, “Misenge, sie sin sruf lun Israel wanginla.
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?”
Mea kut ac oru tuh in oasr mutan kien mukul lula ke sruf lal Benjamin— Kut tuh wulela nu sin LEUM GOD lah kut ac fah tiana lela acn natusr in payuk selos.”
8 Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
Ke elos tuh suk lah oasr mwet Israel tia wi toeni se orek in acn Mizpah, elos konauk tuh wangin mwet Jabesh in acn Gilead wi som nu ke tukeni sac.
9 [They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
Ke pacl in pang inen mwet mweun ma som ah, wangin mwet liki acn Jabesh topuk.
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.
Ke ma inge elos supwala singoul luo tausin mwet mweun na pulaik lalos nu Jabesh, ac fahk nu selos, “Fahla ac onela mwet nukewa in acn Jabesh, wi pac mutan ac tulik nukewa.
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].”
Uniya mukul nukewa oayapa mutan nukewa, sayen mutan virgin.”
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].
Na elos konauk mutan fusr virgin angfoko inmasrlon mwet Jabesh, na elos usalosla nu ke nien aktuktuk lalos in acn Shiloh in facl 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.
Na mwet nukewa su toeni ah elos sapla nu sin mwet in sruf lal Benjamin su muta ke Eot Rimmon ac fahk, “Kut lungse tuh in oasr misla inmasrlosr.”
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].
Na mwet Benjamin elos foloko ke pacl sac, ac mwet Israel ke sruf ngia elos sang nu selos mutan ma elos tia onela sin mwet in acn Jabesh, tusruktu mutan inge puelac nu selos.
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.
Mwet ah pakomuta sruf lal Benjamin mweyen LEUM GOD El kunausla akupasri lun sruf 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?
Ouinge mwet matu inmasrlon toeni sac elos fahk, “Ke wangin mutan lula in sruf lal Benjamin, kut ac konauk fuka mutan kien mwet lula inge?
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.
Tia wo in wanginla sie sin sruf lun Israel uh. Kut enenu na in suk oreya tuh in folokonak sruf lal Benjamin.
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.”
Tusruktu kut tia ku in sang acn natusr in payuk selos mweyen kut tuh orala sie fulahk fahk mu ac fah mwe selnga nu sin mwet se su fuhlela tuh sie mukul Benjamin in payuk sin acn natusr.”
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].”
Na elos esamak lah sie pacl in kufwa nu sin LEUM GOD in acn Shiloh apkuranme. (Acn se inge oasr eir in acn Bethel, ac epang in acn Lebonah, ac kutulap in innek soko inmasrlon Bethel ac Shechem.)
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.
Ouinge elos fahk nu sin mwet Benjamin, “Kowos som ac wikwik in ima grape we
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].
ac soano. Ke tulik mutan in acn Shiloh ac ilme in wi onsrosro ke pacl in kufwa uh, na kowos ilme liki ima grape, ac kais sie suwos eis kais sie mutan tuh in ma kiowos ac usalos som nu in acn suwos an.
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].’”
Papa tumalos ac mukul wialos fin tuku lain kowos kac, na kowos fahk nu selos, ‘Nunak munas, fuhlelosme nu sesr, mweyen kut tia sruokolosi ke mweun sac tuh elos in ma kiasr. Na ke sripen tia kowos pa usalosme nu sesr uh, wangin mwatuwos ke wulela se ma kowos tuh orala.’”
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.
Pa inge ma mwet Benjamin elos oru: ke pacl se mutan inge onsrosro, kais sie mukul Benjamin elos sruokya kais sie mutan ac usalosla tuh in ma kialos. Ouinge elos folokla nu yen selos ac sifilpa musaeak siti srisrik in acn we ac muta we.
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.
In pacl sac pacna, mwet Israel nukewa saya elos folokelik, kais sie mwet nu in sruf lal ac sou lal ac acn sel sifacna.
25 At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
In pacl se inge wangin tokosra lun mwet Israel. Kais sie mwet sifacna oru ma el nunku mu suwohs ye mutal sifacna.
