Wives for the Tribe of Benjamin
1 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: “None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours.” 2 So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: 3 “Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?”
4 Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. 5 They asked, “Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?” (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) 6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, “Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. 7 What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters.”
8 When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there; 9 at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, “Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. 11 Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. 14 The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.
15 The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the leaders of the gathering said, “There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left? 17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, 18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters.”
19 Then they thought, “The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon.” (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) 20 They told the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you. 22 If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, ‘Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.’”
23 The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there. 24 At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.
25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.
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.
