| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” | 1The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” |
| 2Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, | 2Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly. |
| 3and said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?” | 3“O LORD, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!” |
| 4So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. | 4Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. |
| 5The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” | 5Then they said, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the LORD?” At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD’s presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death. |
| 6And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. | 6The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. |
| 7What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?” | 7How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?” |
| 8And they said, “What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD?” And, in fact, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly. | 8So they asked, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we assembled in the presence of the LORD?” And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly. |
| 9For when the people were counted, indeed, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there. | 9For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present. |
| 10So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men, and commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children. | 10So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. |
| 11And this is the thing that you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has known a man intimately.” | 11“This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” |
| 12So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. | 12Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. |
| 13Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them. | 13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. |
| 14So Benjamin came back at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead; and yet they had not found enough for them. | 14Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them. |
| 15And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel. | 15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had made this gap among the tribes of Israel. |
| 16Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” | 16So the elders of the assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? |
| 17And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. | 17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. |
| 18However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ” | 18But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.” |
| 19Then they said, “In fact, there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” | 19Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. |
| 20Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait in the vineyards, | 20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. |
| 21and watch; and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, then come out from the vineyards, and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh; then go to the land of Benjamin. | 21When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife! |
| 22Then it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we will say to them, ‘Be kind to them for our sakes, because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war; for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time, making yourselves guilty of your oath.’ ” | 22And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.’” |
| 23And the children of Benjamin did so; they took enough wives for their number from those who danced, whom they caught. Then they went and returned to their inheritance, and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them. | 23So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them. |
| 24So the children of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family; they went out from there, every man to his inheritance. | 24Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes. |
| 25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. | 25In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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