Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.

Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin

21 Now the men of Israel had sworn ^(A)at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” ² And the people came to ^(B)Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³ And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” ⁴ And the next day the people rose early and ^(C)built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” ^(D)For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ⁶ And the people of Israel ^(E)had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. ^7 (F)What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

⁸ And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from ^(G)Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of ^(H)Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰ So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, ^(I)“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. ¹¹ This is what you shall do: ^(J)every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at ^(K)Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the ^(L)rock of Rimmon and ^(M)proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴ And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. ¹⁵ And the people ^(N)had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, ^(O)“What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷ And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸ Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” ^(P)For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” ¹⁹ So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of ^(Q)the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” ²⁰ And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to ^(R)dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²² And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” ²³ And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance ^(S)and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. ²⁴ And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

^25 (T)In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Sons and Heirs

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,^[a] though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, ^(A)were enslaved to the elementary principles^[b] of the world. ⁴ But ^(B)when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, ^(C)born ^(D)of woman, born ^(E)under the law, ^5 (F)to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive ^(G)adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent ^(H)the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then ^(I)an heir through God.

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

⁸ Formerly, when you ^(J)did not know God, you ^(K)were enslaved to those that by nature ^(L)are not gods. ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather ^(M)to be known by God, ^(N)how can you turn back again to ^(O)the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ^10 (P)You observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹ I am afraid ^(Q)I may have labored over you in vain.

¹² Brothers,^{[c] (R)}I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. ^(S)You did me no wrong. ¹³ You know it was ^(T)because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you ^(U)at first, ¹⁴ and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me ^(V)as an angel of God, ^(W)as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I then become your enemy by ^(X)telling you the truth?^{[d] 17} They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. ¹⁸ It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and ^(Y)not only when I am present with you, ^19 (Z)my little children, ^(AA)for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ ^(AB)is formed in you! ²⁰ I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^(AC)one by a slave woman and ^(AD)one by a free woman. ²³ But ^(AE)the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while ^(AF)the son of the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴ Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two ^(AG)covenants. ^(AH)One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;^[e] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But ^(AI)the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[f] brothers, ^(AK)like Isaac, ^(AL)are children of promise. ²⁹ But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh ^(AM)persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^(AN)so also it is now. ³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? ^(AO)“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but ^(AP)of the free woman.