Judges 21

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

1The men of Israel had made a promise at a town called Mizpeh. They said, "None of us will let his daughter marry a man from Benjamin."

2And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;

2The people came to the house of God at Bethel. They sat there before God until evening. They cried out loud and wept hard.

Note"The house of God" is the place named Bethel, where the people met to pray.

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

3They said, "LORD, God of Israel, why has this happened to us? Today one whole tribe of Israel is missing."

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.

4The next morning the people got up early. They built an altar there, a stone table for gifts to God. They gave burnt offerings and peace offerings on it.

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

5The people of Israel asked, "Who did not come to the meeting before the LORD?" They had made a strong promise about this. Anyone who stayed away from Mizpeh would 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 people of Israel were very sad about Benjamin, their brother tribe. They said, "Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel."

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

7"What can we do about wives for the men who are left? We promised the LORD that we would not give them our daughters."

8And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

8So they asked, "Which tribe did not come to the LORD at Mizpeh?" It turned out that no one had come from the town of Jabesh-gilead.

9For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.

9When the people were counted, not one person from Jabesh-gilead was there.

10And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.

10So the people sent twelve thousand of their bravest fighting men. They told them, "Go and kill the people of Jabesh-gilead with your swords. Kill the women and the children too."

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. Kill every man, and every woman who has been with a man."

12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

12In Jabesh-gilead they found four hundred young women who had never been with a man. They brought them to the camp at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan.

13And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.

13Then all the people sent a message to the men of Benjamin. Those men were hiding at the rock of Rimmon. The message told them it was safe to come back.

14And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.

14So the men of Benjamin came back. They were given the women who had been spared from Jabesh-gilead. But there were still not enough women for all of them.

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

15The people were sad about Benjamin. The LORD had let a gap be torn in the tribes of Israel.

NoteThe old word here is "breach," which means a hole or a gap, like a break in a wall.

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 leaders of the people said, "What can we do about wives for the men still left? All the women of Benjamin are dead."

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

17They said, "The men of Benjamin who lived must have children. Then their land will stay in their family, and their tribe will not die out."

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

18"But we cannot give them our own daughters." This was because Israel had promised, "Anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin will be cursed."

19Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

19Then they said, "There is a feast for the LORD in Shiloh every year. Shiloh is north of Bethel and south of Lebonah. It sits east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem."

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

20So they told the men of Benjamin, "Go and hide in the vineyards, the fields where grapes grow."

21And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in 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 and wait. When the girls of Shiloh come out to dance, run out of the vineyards. Each of you take one of them for a wife. Then go home to the land of Benjamin."

Note"Catch" here does not mean a game. It means the men grabbed the girls and carried them away.

22And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.

22"Their fathers and brothers will come to us and complain. We will say, 'Please be kind to these men for our sake. We did not get a wife for each of them in the war. And you did not hand your daughters over, so you did not break your promise.'"

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

23The men of Benjamin did this. Each man caught one of the dancing girls to be his wife. Then they went back to their own land. They 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 people of Israel left that place. Each man went back to his own tribe and family. Each one went home to his 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 seemed right to himself.