Judges 21

1Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

1The men of Israel had taken a solemn oath at Mizpah, promising that none of them would allow their daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin.

2And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.

2The people went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening, crying out loudly and weeping bitterly.

3And they said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel?

3They said, 'O Lord, God of Israel, why has this happened to us? Why is one tribe missing from Israel today?'

4And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings.

4Early the next morning, the people built an altar there and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

5And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

5Then the Israelites asked, 'Which group from all the tribes of Israel failed to join us when we gathered before the Lord?' For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who did not come to the meeting at Mizpah must be put to death.

6And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

6The Israelites felt very sorry for their brothers, the tribe of Benjamin. They said, 'Today one of our tribes has been cut off from Israel.'

7How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?

7'What can we do to find wives for the men who are left? We have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our own daughters in marriage.'

8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

8Then they asked, 'Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come to the Lord at Mizpah?' They discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.

9For when the people were numbered, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead there.

9When they counted the people, they found that none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there.

10And 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 little ones.

10So the assembly sent 12,000 of their bravest warriors with these orders: 'Go and kill everyone living in Jabesh-gilead with your swords, including the women and children.'

11And this is the thing that ye shall do: ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.

11'This is what you must do: completely destroy every male and every woman who is not a virgin.'

12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins, that had not known man by lying with him; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

12Among the people of Jabesh-gilead, they found 400 young women who were virgins and had never slept with a man. They brought these women to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

13And the whole congregation sent and spake to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace unto them.

13Then the whole assembly sent a message of peace to the men of Benjamin who were hiding at the rock of Rimmon.

14And Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

14So the men of Benjamin returned, and the Israelites gave them the women from Jabesh-gilead who had been spared. But there were still not enough women for all of them.

15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had left a gap in the tribes of Israel.

16Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?

16The elders of the assembly asked, 'What should we do to get wives for the men who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?'

17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel.

17They said, 'The survivors of Benjamin must have heirs so that an entire tribe is not wiped out from Israel.'

18Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

18'But we cannot let them marry our daughters, because we have taken an oath saying, "Cursed is anyone who gives a wife to a man from Benjamin."'

19And they said, Behold, there is a feast of Jehovah from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

19Then they remembered, 'Wait, there is an annual festival for the Lord at Shiloh.' (Shiloh is north of Bethel, east of the main road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.)

20And they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

20They gave these instructions to the men of Benjamin: 'Go and hide in the vineyards.'

21and see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the 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.

21'Watch closely. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, run out from the vineyards. Each of you catch a woman to be your wife and take her back to the land of Benjamin.'

22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come to complain unto us, that we will say unto them, Grant them graciously unto us, because we took not for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did ye give them unto them, else would ye now be guilty.

22'When their fathers or brothers come to complain to us, we will tell them, "Please be kind to them, because we didn't capture enough wives for them in the war. Besides, you aren't guilty of breaking your oath since you didn't give the girls to them voluntarily."'

23And the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they carried off: and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and built the cities, and dwelt in them.

23The men of Benjamin did exactly that. Each man grabbed one of the dancing women and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their own land, rebuilt their towns, and lived in them.

24And 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.

24At that time, the Israelites left that place and everyone went home to their own tribe, their own family, and their own land.

25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

25In those days, Israel had no king; everyone did whatever they thought was right.