Dommernes 21
1 I Mispa hadde Israels menn svoret: Ingen av oss skal gi nogen i Benjamin sin datter til hustru.
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 Men da folket kom til Betel, satt de der for Guds åsyn til om aftenen, og de gråt høit og lenge
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 og sa: Herre, Israels Gud, hvorfor har dette hendt i Israel at det i dag fattes en hel stamme av Israel?
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 Den følgende dag stod folket tidlig op og bygget et alter der og ofret brennoffer og takkoffer.
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 Og Israels barn sa: Hvem var det blandt alle Israels stammer som ikke kom op til Herren med menigheten? For de hadde svoret en dyr ed at den som ikke kom op til Herren i Mispa, han skulde late livet.
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 Det gjorde Israels barn ondt for Benjamin, deres bror, og de sa: Idag er det hugget bort en stamme av Israel.
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 Hvad skal vi gjøre for dem som er tilbake, så de kan få sig hustruer, siden vi har svoret ved Herren at vi ikke vil gi dem nogen av våre døtre til ekte?
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 Så sa de: Var det nogen blandt Israels ætter som ikke kom op til Herren i Mispa? Da fikk de vite at fra Jabes i Gilead var ingen kommet til leiren, til møtet.
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 For da folket blev mønstret, viste det sig at ingen av innbyggerne i Jabes i Gilead var der.
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 Da sendte menigheten tolv tusen mann av krigsfolket dit og bød dem: Dra avsted og slå innbyggerne i Jabes i Gilead med sverdets egg, også kvinner og barn!
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 Således skal I gjøre: Alt mannkjønn og hver kvinne som har hatt samleie med nogen mann, skal I slå med bann.
[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 Da fant de blandt innbyggerne i Jabes i Gilead fire hundre jomfruer som ikke hadde vært nær nogen mann og hatt samleie med ham; dem tok de med sig til leiren i Silo i Kana'ans land.
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 Og hele menigheten sendte bud til Benjamins barn, som var på Rimmons klippe, og lovte dem fred.
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 Da vendte Benjamin med én gang tilbake, og de gav dem de kvinner som de hadde latt bli i live blandt kvinnene i Jabes i Gilead; men det blev ikke nok for dem.
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 Og det gjorde folket ondt for Benjamin; for Herren hadde gjort et skår i Israels stammer.
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 Og menighetens eldste sa: Hvad skal vi gjøre for dem som ennu er tilbake, så de kan få sig hustruer, siden alle kvinner i Benjamin er utryddet?
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 Og de sa: Benjamins arvedel skal høre de undkomne til, så ikke en hel stamme i Israel skal utslettes.
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 Men vi kan ikke gi dem nogen av våre døtre til ekte. For Israels barn har svoret: Forbannet være den som gir nogen av Benjamin sin datter til hustru!
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 Så sa de: År for år holdes det jo en høitid for Herren i Silo, som ligger nordenfor Betel, østenfor alfarveien som fører fra Betel op til Sikem, og sønnenfor Lebona.
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 Og de sa til Benjamins barn: Gå og legg eder på lur i vingårdene
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 og pass på, og når I ser Silos døtre gå ut til dans, da skal I springe frem fra vingårdene og røve eder hver sin hustru blandt Silos døtre og så dra hjem til Benjamins land.
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 Og når deres fedre eller brødre kommer og vil gå i rette med oss, da skal vi si til dem: Unn oss dem! For vi har ikke alle fått oss hustruer i krigen, og I har jo ikke selv gitt dem pikene; da vilde I nu være skyldige.
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 Og Benjamins barn gjorde således og tok sig hver sin hustru, så mange som de var, blandt de dansende kvinner som de røvet; og de drog avsted og vendte tilbake til sin arvedel og bygget op igjen byene og blev boende der.
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 På samme tid reiste Israels barn også derfra, hver til sin stamme og sin ætt; de drog bort derfra, hver til sin arvedel.
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 I de dager var det ingen konge i Israel; hver mann gjorde hvad rett var i hans øine.
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
