1 Now the men of Israel had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, Not one of us will give his daughter as a wife to Benjamin.

2 And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.

3 And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this fate come on Israel, that today one tribe has been cut off from Israel?

4 Then on the day after, the people got up early and made an altar there, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings.

5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel, who did not come up to the Lord at the meeting of all Israel? For they had taken a great oath that whoever did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord was to be put to death.

6 And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.

7 What are we to do about wives for those who are still living? For we have taken an oath by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters for wives.

8 And they said, Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And it was seen that no one had come from Jabesh-gilead to the meeting.

9 For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present.

10 So they (the meeting) sent twelve thousand of the best fighting-men, and gave them orders, saying, Go and put the people of Jabesh-gilead to the sword without mercy, with their women and their little ones.

11 And this is what you are to do: every male, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man, you are to put to the curse, but you are to keep safe the virgins. And they did so.

12 Now there were among the people of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never had sex relations with a man; these they took to their tents in Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

13 And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace.

14 Then Benjamin came back; and they gave them the women whom they had kept from death among the women of Jabesh-gilead: but still there were not enough for them.

15 And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the responsible men of the meeting said, What are we to do about wives for the rest of them, seeing that the women of Benjamin are dead?

17 And they said, How is the rest of Benjamin to be given offspring so that one tribe of Israel may not be put out of existence,

18 Seeing that we may not give them our daughters as wives? For the children of Israel had taken an oath, saying, Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.

19 And they said, See, every year there is a feast of the Lord in Shiloh, which is to the north of Beth-el, on the east side of the highway which goes up from Beth-el to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.

20 And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly,

21 And watching; and if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then come from the vine-gardens and take a wife for every one of you from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go back to the land of Benjamin.

22 And when their fathers or their brothers come and make trouble, you are to say to them, Give them to us as an act of grace; for we did not take them as wives for ourselves in war; and if you yourselves had given them to us you would have been responsible for the broken oath.

23 So the men of Benjamin did this, and got wives for themselves for every one of their number, taking them away by force from the dance; then they went back to their heritage, building up their towns and living in them.

24 Then the children of Israel went away from there, every man to his tribe and his family, every man went back to his heritage.

25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.

1 Os líderes de Israel tinham prometido em Mizpá nunca mais deixar as suas filhas casarem com homens da tribo de Benjamim. Os chefes israelitas reuniram-se depois em Betel, diante de Deus, chorando amargamente até à noite.

3 Ó Senhor Deus de Israel, clamavam eles, porque é que isto teve de acontecer, que agora falte uma das nossas tribos?

4 Na manhã seguinte levantaram-se cedo e construíram um altar, oferecendo sacrifícios e ofertas de paz sobre ele. Então uma pergunta lhes veio ao espírito: Houve alguma tribo que não se tivesse feito representar quando nos reunimos perante o Senhor em Mizpá? Nessa altura tinha-se feito um juramento em como, se alguém recusasse vir, deveria morrer.

6 Levantou-se pois entre todos uma profunda tristeza pela perda da tribo irmã - Benjamim.Israel perdeu uma parte de si mesmo, diziam eles entre si. Perdemos toda uma tribo do nosso povo.

7 E agora como é que vamos arranjar mulheres para os poucos que restaram visto que jurámos, na presença do Senhor, que não lhes daríamos as nossas filhas?

8 E tornaram a reflectir com respeito àquele juramento que tinham feito de matar os que tivessem recusado apresentar-se em Mizpá, acabando por constatar que ninguém de Jabes-Gileade viera. Mandaram então doze mil dos seus melhores soldados para destruir o povo daquela localidade; mataram os homens todos, mais as mulheres casadas e ainda as crianças. Contudo pouparam as virgens em idade de casar; destas, contaram-se quatrocentas, que foram trazidas ao campo de Silo.

13 Israel enviou após isso uma delegação de paz até ao pequeno resto do povo de Benjamim, que estava na rocha de Rimom. As quatrocentas raparigas foram-lhes dadas e a delegação voltou para trás; no entanto nem mesmo assim havia bastantes raparigas para os benjamitas todos.

15 (Isto, claro está, aumentava mais ainda a tristeza dos israelitas, pelo facto de o Senhor - como dizia o povo - ter permitido aquela brecha no conjunto de Israel.)

16 O que é que havemos então de fazer com este problema de arranjar mulheres para os outros! Logo haviam de ter morrido todas as mulheres de Benjamim!, exclamavam os chefes de Israel. Tem de haver uma solução, se não, toda uma tribo de Israel vai ficar perdida para sempre. Mas em todo o caso não poderemos dar-lhes as nossas filhas. Jurámos solenemente em como qualquer de nós que isso fizesse seria maldito de Deus.

19 A certa altura alguém apresentou uma ideia: Anualmente há uma festa religiosa, nos campos de Silo, entre Lebona e Betel, junto à estrada -a nascente dela - o que vai de Betel a Siquem.

20 Foram pois dizer aos homens de Benjamim que ainda precisavam de mulheres: Vão-se esconder nessa altura por entre as vinhas, e quando as raparigas de Silo se chegarem para dançar, corram a apanhá-las e levem-nas para vossas mulheres! Quando os pais e os irmãos delas vierem protestar, dir-lhe-emos: Por favor, sejam compreensivos e deixem-nos ficar com as moças; sabem bem que não conseguimos achar mulheres suficientes para eles quando fomos destruir Jabes-Gileade; e pela vossa parte vocês também não podiam ter dado as raparigas sem se tornarem culpados.

23 Os tais homens de Benjamim fizeram assim; raptaram as moças que participavam na celebração religiosa e levaram-nas consigo. Reconstruíram as povoações e continuaram a viver ali. Assim o povo de Israel regressou cada qual às suas terras.

25 Não havia pois rei em Israel naquela altura, e cada um fazia o que lhe parecia melhor na sua ideia.