| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Now 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 sworn an oath at Mizpah: "None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage." |
| 2And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; | 2So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, |
| 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? | 3and cried out, "Why, LORD God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today?" |
| 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 day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. |
| 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 Israelites asked, "Who of all the tribes of Israel didn't come to the LORD with the assembly?" For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the LORD at Mizpah would certainly 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. | 6But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, "Today a 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? | 7What should we do about wives for the survivors? We've sworn to the LORD not to give them any of our daughters as wives." |
| 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. | 8They asked, "Which city among the tribes of Israel didn't come to the LORD at Mizpah?" It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp and the assembly. |
| 9For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there. | 9For when the people were counted, no one was there from the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead. |
| 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. | 10The congregation sent 12,000 brave warriors there and commanded them: "Go and kill the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, including women and children. |
| 11And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. | 11This is what you should do: Completely destroy every male, as well as every female who has slept 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. | 12They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young women, who had not had sexual relations with a man, and 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. | 13The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon. |
| 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. | 14Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them. |
| 15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. | 15The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the LORD had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. |
| 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 elders of the congregation said, "What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?" |
| 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, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped 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. | 18But we can't give them our daughters as wives." For the Israelites had sworn, "Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is 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. | 19They also said, "Look, there's an annual festival to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah." |
| 20Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; | 20Then they commanded the Benjaminites: "Go and hide in the vineyards. |
| 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. | 21Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. |
| 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. | 22When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, 'Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn't actually give the women to them, so you are not guilty of breaking your oath.'" |
| 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 Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, 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, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and family. Each returned from there to his own inheritance. |
| 25In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. | 25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted. |
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