Judges 21
Good News Translation
Wives for the Tribe of Benjamin
21 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: “None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours.” 2 So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: 3 “Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?”
4 Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. 5 They asked, “Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?” (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) 6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, “Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. 7 What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters.”
8 When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there; 9 at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, “Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. 11 Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. 14 The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.
15 The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the leaders of the gathering said, “There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left? 17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, 18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters.”
19 Then they thought, “The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon.” (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) 20 They told the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you. 22 If their fathers or brothers come to you[a] and protest, you[b] can tell them, ‘Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.’”
23 The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there. 24 At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.
25 (A)There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.
Footnotes
- Judges 21:22 One ancient translation you; Hebrew us.
- Judges 21:22 Probable text you; Hebrew we.
Shofetim 21
Orthodox Jewish Bible
21 Now the Ish Yisroel had taken an oath in Mitzpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his bat unto Binyamin as isha.
2 And HaAm went to Beit-El, and abode there till erev before HaElohim, and lifted up their voices, and wept gadol;
3 And said, Hashem Elohei Yisroel, why is this come to pass in Yisroel, that there should be today shevet echad lacking in Yisroel?
4 And it came to pass on the next day, that HaAm rose early, and built there a Mizbe’ach, and offered olot and shelamim.
5 And the Bnei Yisroel said, Who is there among kol Shivtei Yisroel that came not up with the Kahal unto Hashem? For they had made the shevuah hagedolah concerning him that came not up before Hashem to Mitzpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death.
6 And the Bnei Yisroel had compassion for Binyamin their brother, and said, There is shevet echad cut off from Yisroel this day.
7 How shall we do for nashim for them that remain, seeing we have taken an oath by Hashem that we will not give them of our banot as nashim?
8 And they said, What one is there of the Shivtei Yisroel that came not up to Mitzpah to Hashem? And, hinei, there came none to the machaneh from Yavesh-Gilead to the Kahal.
9 For HaAm were numbered, and, hinei, there were none of the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gilead there.
10 And HaEdah sent thither 12,000 ish of the Bnei HeChayil, and commanded them, saying, Go and strike the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gilead with the edge of the cherev, with the women and the children.
11 And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every zakhar, and every isha that hath da’as of lying with man.
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Yavesh-Gilead four hundred na’arah betulah, that had known no man by lying with any zakhar; and they brought them unto the machaneh at Shiloh, which is in Eretz Kena’an.
13 And the kol HaEdah sent some to speak to the Bnei Binyamin that were at the Rock of Rimmon, and to proclaim shalom unto them.
14 And Binyamin came again at that time; and they gave them nashim which they had saved alive of the women of Yavesh-Gilead; but they sufficed not for them.
15 And HaAm had compassion for Binyamin, because Hashem had made a breach in the Shivtei Yisroel.
16 Then the Ziknei HaEdah (Elders of the Congregation) said, How shall we do for nashim for them that remain, seeing the isha are destroyed out of Binyamin?
17 And they said, There must be yerushah (heir) for them that be survivor of Binyamin, that a shevet be not destroyed out of Yisroel.
18 Howbeit we may not give them nashim of our banot; for the Bnei Yisroel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth an isha to Binyamin.
19 Then they said, Hinei, there is chag Hashem (feast of Hashem) in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Beit El, on the east side of the road that goeth up from Beit El to Shechem, and on the south of Levonah.
20 Therefore they commanded the Bnei Binyamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the kramim (vineyards);
21 And watch, and, hinei, if the Banot Shiloh come out to join in dances, then come ye out of the kramim (vineyards), and catch you every ish his isha of the Banot Shiloh, and go to Eretz Binyamin.
22 And it shall be, when their avot or their achim come unto us for riv (to complain), we [the Ziknei HaEdah] will say unto them, Give them to us, for we did not receive every ish his isha through the war; for ye have not given them unto them at this time; now would ye be guilty.
23 And the Bnei Binyamin did so and took them nashim, according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught; and they went and returned unto their nachalah, and repaired the towns, and dwelt in them.
24 And the Bnei Yisroel departed from there at that time, every ish to his shevet and to his mishpakhah, and they went out from thence every ish to his nachalah.
25 In those days there was no melech in Yisroel; every man did that which was yashar (right) in his own eyes.
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