CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Judges 21 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/judges/21.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/judges/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > Judges 21</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/20.htm" title="Judges 20">◄</a> Judges 21 <a href="../ruth/1.htm" title="Ruth 1">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Wives for the Tribe of Benjamin</h3><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_1"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.1" class="v7_21_1">1</span>When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>: “None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours.” </span><span class="v7_21_2"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.2" class="v7_21_2">2</span>So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: </span><span class="v7_21_3"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.3" class="v7_21_3">3</span>“<span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_4"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.4" class="v7_21_4">4</span>Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. </span><span class="v7_21_5"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.5" class="v7_21_5">5</span>They asked, “Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s presence at Mizpah?” (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) </span><span class="v7_21_6"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.6" class="v7_21_6">6</span>The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, “Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. </span><span class="v7_21_7"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.7" class="v7_21_7">7</span>What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the <span class="nd">Lord</span> that we will not give them any of our daughters.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_8"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.8" class="v7_21_8">8</span>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; </span><span class="v7_21_9"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.9" class="v7_21_9">9</span>at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. </span><span class="v7_21_10"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.10" class="v7_21_10">10</span>So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, “Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. </span><span class="v7_21_11"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.11" class="v7_21_11">11</span>Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin.” </span><span class="v7_21_12"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.12" class="v7_21_12">12</span>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.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_13"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.13" class="v7_21_13">13</span>Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. </span><span class="v7_21_14"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.14" class="v7_21_14">14</span>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.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_15"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.15" class="v7_21_15">15</span>The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. </span><span class="v7_21_16"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.16" class="v7_21_16">16</span>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? </span><span class="v7_21_17"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.17" class="v7_21_17">17</span>Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, </span><span class="v7_21_18"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.18" class="v7_21_18">18</span>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.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_19"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.19" class="v7_21_19">19</span>Then they thought, “The yearly festival of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> at Shiloh is coming soon.” (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) </span><span class="v7_21_20"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.20" class="v7_21_20">20</span>They told the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards </span><span class="v7_21_21"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.21" class="v7_21_21">21</span>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. </span><span class="v7_21_22"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.22" class="v7_21_22">22</span>If their fathers or brothers come to you<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.21.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and protest, you<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.21.22!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> 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.’”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_23"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.23" class="v7_21_23">23</span>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. </span><span class="v7_21_24"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.24" class="v7_21_24">24</span>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.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_21_25"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.21.25" class="v7_21_25">25</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.21.25!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">21.22: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">you; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">us.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">21.22: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probable text </char><char style="fq" closed="false">you; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">we.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p class="yiv9003199930MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;">Bible text from the Good News Translation (GNT) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.gnt.bible">www.gnt.bible</a> . Discover .BIBLE resources for your ministry at <a href="http://www.get.bible/gnt">www.get.bible/gnt</a></span></p><br /><br /><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /><br /><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../judges/20.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Judges 20"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Judges 20" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../ruth/1.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Ruth 1"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Ruth 1" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/judges/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>