Wives for the Men of Benjamin
1 When the Israelites had met at Mizpah before the war with Benjamin, they had made this sacred promise: “None of us will ever let our daughters marry any man from Benjamin.”
2 After the war with Benjamin, the Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel and sat there until sunset. They cried loudly and bitterly 3 and prayed, “Our Lord, you are the God of Israel. Why did you let this happen? Now one of our tribes is almost gone.”
4 Early the next morning, the Israelites built an altar and offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing. 5 Then they asked each other, “Did any of the tribes of Israel fail to come to the place of worship? We made a sacred promise that anyone who didn't come to the meeting at Mizpah would be put to death.”
6 The Israelites were sad about what had happened to the Benjamin tribe, and they said, “One of our tribes was almost wiped out. 7 Only a few men of Benjamin weren't killed in the war. We need to get wives for them, so the tribe won't completely disappear. But how can we do that, after promising in the Lord's name that we wouldn't let them marry any of our daughters?”
8-9 Again the Israelites asked, “Did any of the tribes stay away from the meeting at Mizpah?”
After asking around, they discovered that no one had come from Jabesh in Gilead. 10-11 So they sent 12,000 warriors with these orders: “Attack Jabesh in Gilead and kill everyone, except the women who have never been married.”
12 The warriors attacked Jabesh in Gilead, and returned to their camp at Shiloh in Canaan with 400 young women.
13 The Israelites met and sent messengers to the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock, telling them that the Israelites were willing to make peace with them. 14 So the men of Benjamin came back from Rimmon Rock, and the Israelites let them marry the young women from Jabesh. But there weren't enough women.
15 The Israelites were very sad, because the Lord had almost wiped out one of their tribes. 16 Then their leaders said:
All the women of the Benjamin tribe were killed. How can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? 17 If they don't have children, one of the Israelite tribes will die out. 18 But we can't let the men of Benjamin marry any of our daughters. We made a sacred promise not to do that, and if we break our promise, we will be under our own curse.
19 Then someone suggested, “What about the Lord's Festival that takes place each year in Shiloh? It's held north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and just east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.”
20 The leaders told the men of Benjamin who still did not have wives:
Go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards near the festival. 21 Wait there for the young women of Shiloh to come out and perform their dances. Then rush out and grab one of the young women, then take her home as your wife. 22 If the fathers or brothers of these women complain about this, we'll say, “Be kind enough to let those men keep your daughter. After all, we couldn't get enough wives for all the men of Benjamin in the battle at Jabesh. And because you didn't give them permission to marry your daughters, you won't be under the curse we earlier agreed on.”
23 The men of Benjamin went to Shiloh and hid in the vineyards. The young women soon started dancing, and each man grabbed one of them and carried her off. Then the men of Benjamin went back to their own land and rebuilt their towns and started living in them again.
24 Afterwards, the rest of the Israelites returned to their homes and families.
Israel Was Not Ruled by a King
25 In those days Israel wasn't ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right.
Ovabenjamin tava pewa ovalikadi ovaJabes novaSilo
1 Ndelenee ovalumenhu vaIsrael va ana muMispa tava ti: “Nande umwe mufye aha yandje omona okakadona kOmukwabenjamin, a ninge omwalikadi waye.” 2 Novakwaita eshi ve uya muBetel, va kala ko fiyo onguloshi koshipala shaKalunga, ndele tava yelula ondaka yavo nokulila unene 3 ndele tava ti: “Akutu Omwene Kalunga kaIsrael, omolwashike sha ningwa nokutya, nena eli epata limwe lomuIsrael kali po?” 4 Ndele mefiku la shikula, ovakwaita va fikama ndele tava tungile ko oaltari ndele tava yambe omaxwikiloyambo nomapanduloyambo. 5 Novana vaIsrael tava ti: “Momapata aeshe omuIsrael omu na tuu umwe ou ine uya pamwe neongalo oku koshipala shOmwene? Osheshi ou ite uya koshipala shOmwene kuMispa”, ye a anenwa eaneno lidjuu, nokutya e nokudipawa shili. 6 Opo nee ovana vaIsrael va li ve uditile ovakwao, Ovabenjamin, olukeno, ndele tava ti: “Onena eli muIsrael mwa tetwa mo epata limwe. 7 Ava va xupa po ohatu dulu oku va ningila shike, va mone ovalikadi? Osheshi fye otwa ana koshipala shOmwene nokutya, fye itatu va pe ovana vetu oukadona va ninge ovalikadi vavo.” 8 Opo nee tava ti: “Momapata aIsrael omu na limwe inali uya koshipala shOmwene kuMispa?” Ndele tala, muJabes shomuGilead inamu dja nande umwe e uya konhanda koshiongalele. 9 Novanhu va ongelwa ndele inamu monika nande umwe a dja muJabes shomuGilead. 10 Opo nee oshiongalele sha tuma ovalumenhu omayovi omulongo nomayovi avali vomovakwanyatielela, ndele tashi va lombwele ndele tashi ti: “Indeni ko mu ka dipae oonakukalamo muJabes shomuGilead neongamukonda novalikadi yo nounona. 11 Noshinima osho tuu eshi mu noku shi ninga: Ovalumenhu aveshe novakainhu aveshe ava va nangala novalumenhu, mu noku va yapulila efyo.” 12 Ndele va mona moonakukalamo muJabes shomuGilead oukadona omafele ane, oukadona inava nangala novalumenhu, ndele vo ve va eta konhanda muSilo shi li medu laKaanan. 13 Opo nee oshiongalele ashishe sha tuma ovatumwa okukundafana nOvabenjamin venya va li kemanya laRimmon ndele ve va lombwela ombili. 14 Opo nee Ovabenjamin va aluka ndele ve va pa ovakainhu venya vomuJabes shomuGilead, ndelenee vo inave va wanena.
15 Novanhu ve uditile Ovabenjamin olukeno, shaashi Omwene okwa kufa po epata limwe lomomapata aIsrael. 16 Opo nee ovakulunhu voshiongalele tava ti: “Ava va xupa po ohatu dulu oku va ningila shike, va mone ovalikadi?” Osheshi ovakainhu va dipawa muBenjamin. 17 Vo tava ti vali: Oshitukulwafyuululwa shaava va xupa po oshaBenjamin, muha kane nande epata limwe muIsrael. 18 Ndelenee fye ihatu dulu oku va pa movana vetu oukadona va ninge ovalikadi vavo; osheshi ovana vaIsrael va ana tava ti: “Na tulwe omutima ou ta pe Omukwabenjamin omwalikadi.” 19 Opo nee tava ti: “Taleni, tamu danenwa Omwene oshivilo keshe omudo muSilo”, shi li koumbangalanhu waBetel koushilo welila lakula, tali di kuBetel tali i kuSekem kombinga yokoumbuwanhu waLebona. 20 Ndele vo va lombwela ovana vaBenjamin ndele tava ti: “Indeni mu ka nangele koikokola yomiviinyu. 21 Ndele taleni, ngeenge tamu mono oukadona vomuSilo tave uya va ka dane, opo nee nye mu nokudja mo moikokola yomiviinyu ndele mu nokukwata, keshe umwe, omwalikadi waye moukadona vomuSilo nokuya koshilongo shaBenjamin. 22 Ndele ooxe ile ovamwaina ngeenge tave uya pufye oku tu hokololifa, fye ohatu ke va lombwela: ‘Ve tu peni oshali, osheshi nande umwe womufye a kwata omwalikadi moita. Nye vene inamu ve va pa. Ngeno osho ngaha, ngeno mwa pewa etimba.’ ” 23 Ovana vaBenjamin osho va ninga. Vo ova kwata pamuvalo wavo ovalikadi movatanhi voudano, ava ve va nyeka po. Ndele vo ova ya ndele tava shuna koshitukulwafyuululwa shavo, ndele va tungulula oilando ndele tava kala mo. 24 Mefimbo olo ovana vaIsrael va dja ko, keshe umwe kepata lavo nokoludi lavo, ndelenee vo va dja ko keshe umwe koshitukulwafyuululwa shavo. 25 Momafiku enya muIsrael inamu kala ohamba. Keshe umwe a ninga eshi she mu wapalela.
