Judges 21 - Ruth 1

New International Version

Wives for the Benjamites

21 The men of Israel had taken an oath^(A) at Mizpah:^(B) “Not one of us will give^(C) his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

² The people went to Bethel,^[a] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. ³ “Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing^(D) from Israel today?”

⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.^(E)

⁵ Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel^(F) has failed to assemble before the Lord?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.

⁶ Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. ⁷ “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath^(G) by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” ⁸ Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead^(H) had come to the camp for the assembly. ⁹ For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

¹⁰ So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. ¹¹ “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male^(I) and every woman who is not a virgin.^(J)” ¹² They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh^(K) in Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace^(L) to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.^{(M) 14} So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.

¹⁵ The people grieved for Benjamin,^(N) because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? ¹⁷ The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.^{(O) 18} We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath:^(P) ‘Cursed be anyone who gives^(Q) a wife to a Benjamite.’ ¹⁹ But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh,^(R) which lies north of Bethel^(S), east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem,^(T) and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰ So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,^(U) rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give^(V) your daughters to them.’”

²³ So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing,^(W) each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance^(X) and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.^(Y)

²⁴ At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

²⁵ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.^(Z)

Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons

1 In the days when the judges ruled,^[b](AA) there was a famine in the land.^(AB) So a man from Bethlehem in Judah,^(AC) together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while^(AD) in the country of Moab.^{(AE) 2} The man’s name was Elimelek,^(AF) his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion.^(AG) They were Ephrathites^(AH) from Bethlehem,^(AI) Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

³ Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women,^(AJ) one named Orpah and the other Ruth.^(AK) After they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion^(AL) also died,^(AM) and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

⁶ When Naomi heard in Moab^(AN) that the Lord had come to the aid of his people^(AO) by providing food^(AP) for them, she and her daughters-in-law^(AQ) prepared to return home from there. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.^(AR) May the Lord show you kindness,^(AS) as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands^(AT) and to me. ⁹ May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest^(AU) in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed^(AV) them goodbye and they wept aloud^{(AW) 10} and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?^{(AX) 12} Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— ¹³ would you wait until they grew up?^(AY) Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter^(AZ) for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!^(BA)”

¹⁴ At this they wept^(BB) aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law^(BC) goodbye,^(BD) but Ruth clung to her.^(BE)

¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law^(BF) is going back to her people and her gods.^(BG) Go back with her.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you^(BH) or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,^(BI) and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people^(BJ) and your God my God.^{(BK) 17} Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(BL) if even death separates you and me.”^{(BM) 18} When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.^(BN)

¹⁹ So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.^(BO) When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred^(BP) because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

²⁰ “Don’t call me Naomi,^[c]” she told them. “Call me Mara,^[d] because the Almighty^[e](BQ) has made my life very bitter.^{(BR) 21} I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.^(BS) Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted^[f] me;^(BT) the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

²² So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite,^(BU) her daughter-in-law,^(BV) arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest^(BW) was beginning.^(BX)