Judges 21:12-22
New American Standard Bible
13Then the whole congregation sent word and spoke to the sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.
14And the tribe of Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had allowed to live from the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they were not enough for them.
15And the people were sorry for Benjamin, because the Lord had created a gap in the tribes of Israel.
16Then the elders of the congregation said, 'What are we to do for wives for those who are left, since the women have been eliminated from Benjamin?'
17And they said, 'There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be wiped out from Israel.
18But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.' For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, 'Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin!'
19So they said, 'Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah.'
20And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, 'Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards, and each of you shall seize his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we shall say to them, ‘ Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, otherwise you would now be guilty.’?'
King James Version
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.
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.
15And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the Lord had made a breach 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?
17And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that be escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.
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.
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.
20Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait 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.
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.
Christian Standard Bible
13The whole congregation sent a message of peace to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock.
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.
15The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.
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?"
17They said, "There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
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."
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."
20Then they commanded the Benjaminites: "Go and hide in the vineyards.
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.
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.’"
New Living Translation
13The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon.
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.
15The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made this gap among the tribes of Israel.
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?
17There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out.
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 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.
20They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, 'Go and hide in the vineyards.
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!
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.’'
English Standard Version
13Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them.
14And 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.
15And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
16Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?"
17And they said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel.
18Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters." For the people of Israel had sworn, "Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin."
19So they said, "Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."
20And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards
21and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to 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.
22And 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.’"
New International Version
13Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.
14So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel.
16And the elders of the assembly said, "With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left?
17The Benjamite survivors must have heirs," they said, "so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.
18We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’
19But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."
20So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, "Go and hide in the vineyards
21and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin.
22When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.’ "
New King James Version
13Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and announced peace to them.
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.
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?”
17And they said, “ There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel.
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.’ ”
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.”
20Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin, saying, “Go, lie in wait 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.
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.’ ”
