Hakim-hakim 21
1 Pada waktu orang Israel berkumpul di Mizpa, mereka telah berjanji kepada TUHAN bahwa tidak seorang pun dari mereka yang akan mengizinkan anak gadisnya menjadi istri orang Benyamin.
When the Israeli men gathered at Mizpah [before the battle started], they vowed, “None of us will ever allow one of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin!”
2 Sekarang mereka pergi ke Betel dan duduk bersedih hati sampai malam di hadapan Tuhan. Mereka menangis dan berseru,
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 "Ya TUHAN, Allah Israel, mengapa semua ini harus terjadi? Suku Benyamin, salah satu suku bangsa kami, hampir lenyap!"
They kept saying, “Yahweh, God of us Israeli people, [it is as though] one of the tribes of us Israelis does not exist any more! (Why has this happened to us?/It is terrible that this has happened to us!)” [RHQ]
4 Keesokan harinya, pagi-pagi sekali, umat Israel mendirikan sebuah mezbah di situ, lalu mempersembahkan kepada TUHAN kurban bakaran dan kurban perdamaian.
Early the next morning the people built an altar. Then they completely burned some sacrifices [on the altar], and also offered other sacrifices to maintain fellowship with God.
5 Kemudian mereka menyelidiki di antara suku-suku bangsa Israel apakah ada yang tidak pergi berkumpul menghadap TUHAN di Mizpa dahulu. (Pada waktu itu mereka sudah bersumpah bahwa orang yang tidak memenuhi panggilan ke Mizpa harus dihukum mati.)
Then, because they had vowed that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah [to help fight the men of the tribe of Benjamin] would be killed, they asked among themselves, “Were there any of the tribes of Israel who did not come to Mizpah to meet with us in the presence of Yahweh?”
6 Umat Israel kasihan kepada saudara-saudara mereka suku Benyamin; mereka berkata, "Hari ini Israel kehilangan salah satu sukunya.
The Israelis felt sorry for their fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin. They said, “Today one of our Israeli tribes (has disappeared/no longer exists).
7 Kita harus berbuat apa supaya orang Benyamin yang sisa ini bisa mempunyai istri, karena kita sudah bersumpah kepada TUHAN bahwa kita tidak akan mengizinkan anak-anak gadis kita menjadi istri orang Benyamin?"
Yahweh heard us solemnly declare that we would not allow any of our daughters to marry any man from the tribe of Benjamin. What can we do to make certain that the men of the tribe of Benjamin who were not killed will have wives?”
8 Maka mereka menyelidiki apakah ada satu golongan dari suku bangsa Israel yang tidak pergi berkumpul di Mizpa. Dan mereka mendapati bahwa dari orang-orang Yabes di Gilead, tidak ada seorang pun yang telah pergi ke Mizpa.
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 Karena, ketika diperiksa daftar hadir, ternyata tidak terdapat di situ seorang pun dari Yabes.
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 Oleh sebab itu, orang-orang yang berkumpul di Betel itu mengirim 12.000 orang yang paling berani di antara mereka untuk membunuh setiap orang di Yabes, termasuk wanita dan anak-anak.
So all the Israelis decided to send 12,000 very good soldiers to Jabesh-Gilead to kill the people there with their swords, even to kill the married women and children.
11 Mereka diperintahkan untuk membunuh semua orang laki-laki, dan juga setiap wanita yang bukan perawan lagi.
[They told this to those men]: “This is what you must do: You must kill every man in Jabesh-Gilead. You must also kill every married woman. [But do not kill the unmarried women].”
12 Maka di antara orang-orang yang tinggal di Yabes itu, mereka mendapati 400 gadis yang masih perawan. Mereka membawa gadis-gadis itu ke perkemahan di Silo yang terletak di negeri Kanaan.
So those soldiers [went to Jabesh-Gilead and killed all the men, married women, and children. But they] found 400 unmarried young women there. So they brought them to their camp at Shiloh, in Canaan, [across the river from the Gilead area that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin].
13 Kemudian seluruh umat Israel mengirim utusan kepada orang-orang Benyamin yang berada di gunung-gunung batu di Rimon untuk menawarkan perdamaian.
Then all the Israelis [who had gathered] sent a message to the 600 men who were at Rimmon Rock. They said that they would like to make peace with them.
14 Oleh sebab itu orang-orang Benyamin itu kembali, lalu umat Israel memberikan kepada mereka gadis-gadis dari Yabes yang tidak dibunuh itu. Tetapi jumlah gadis-gadis itu tidak cukup untuk orang-orang Benyamin itu.
So the men came back from Rimmon Rock. The Israelis gave to them the women from Jabesh-Gilead whom they had not killed. But there were [only 400 women. But there were] not enough women [for those 600 men].
15 Umat Israel merasa kasihan kepada orang Benyamin, karena TUHAN sudah meretakkan kesatuan suku-suku bangsa Israel.
The Israelis [still] felt sorry for the men of the tribe of Benjamin, because Yahweh had (decimated/almost wiped out) one of the Israeli tribes.
16 Sebab itu, tokoh-tokoh yang berkumpul di Betel itu berkata, "Di dalam suku Benyamin tidak ada lagi wanita. Tetapi, apa boleh buat; kita tidak bisa mengizinkan anak-anak gadis kita kawin dengan mereka, karena kita sudah menyumpahi setiap orang dari antara kita yang mengizinkan anak gadisnya kawin dengan seorang Benyamin! Jadi, apakah yang harus kita lakukan untuk mereka yang sisa ini supaya mereka bisa mempunyai istri juga? Jangan sampai Israel kehilangan salah satu dari kedua belas sukunya. Kita harus mencari jalan supaya suku Benyamin dapat mempunyai keturunan seterusnya dan tetap memiliki seluruh tanahnya."
The Israeli leaders said, “We have killed all the married women of the tribe of Benjamin. Where can we get women to be wives of the men who are still alive?
These men must have wives to give birth to children, in order that their families will continue. If that does not happen, all the people of one of the tribes of Israel will die.
But we cannot allow our daughters to marry these men, because we vowed that Yahweh will curse anyone who gives one of his daughters to become a wife of any man of the tribe of Benjamin.”
19 "Begini," kata mereka, "ada satu jalan keluar, yaitu pada waktu perayaan tahunan untuk TUHAN di Silo." (Di sebelah selatan Silo ini terdapat kota Betel, dan di sebelah baratnya terdapat jalan raya Betel ke Sikhem, sedangkan di sebelah utaranya terdapat kota Lebona.)
Then [one of] them (had an idea/thought of something that they could do). He said, “Every year there is a festival to honor Yahweh at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel and east of the road that extends from Bethel to Shechem, and it is south of Lebonah [city].”
20 Maka tokoh-tokoh pertemuan di Betel itu berkata kepada orang-orang Benyamin yang sisa itu, "Pergilah kalian bersembunyi di kebun-kebun anggur di Silo,
So the Israeli leaders told the men of the tribe of Benjamin, “[When it is the time for that festival], go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards.
21 dan berjaga-jagalah di situ. Nanti kalau gadis-gadis Silo keluar untuk menari selama perayaan tahunan untuk TUHAN, kalian harus keluar dari kebun-kebun anggur itu. Lalu masing-masing harus menangkap seorang gadis dari antara mereka dan melarikannya ke wilayah Benyamin untuk dijadikan istrimu.
Keep watching for the young women to come out of the city to dance. [When they come out], all of you should run out of the vineyards. Each of you can seize one of the young women of Shiloh. Then you can all return to your homes [with those women].
22 Kalau ayah atau saudaranya yang laki-laki datang dan menuntut dia, kalian dapat mengatakan, 'Kami mohon, biarkanlah mereka pada kami. Kami tidak merampas mereka dalam pertempuran. Dan karena kalian tidak memberikan mereka kepada kami, kalian tidak melanggar janji, jadi tidak bersalah.'"
If their fathers or brothers come to us and complain [about what you have done], we will say to them, ‘Be kind to the men of the tribe of Benjamin. When we fought them, we did not leave any women alive to become their wives, and you did not give those young women to the men from the tribe of Benjamin. [They stole them]. So you will not be guilty, [even though you said that you would not allow any of your daughters to marry one of them].’”
23 Maka orang-orang Benyamin itu melakukan apa yang dikatakan kepada mereka. Mereka masing-masing melarikan seorang gadis dari antara gadis-gadis yang menari di Silo. Kemudian mereka kembali ke wilayah mereka sendiri dan membangun kembali kota-kotanya lalu menetap di sana.
So that is what the men of the tribe of Benjamin did. [They went to Shiloh at the time of the festival]. And when the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them and took her away and married her. Then they took their wives back to the land that God had given to them. They rebuilt their cities [that had been burned down], and they lived there.
24 Orang-orang Israel yang lainnya itu pun berangkat pula. Mereka kembali ke tanah milik mereka di dalam wilayah mereka masing-masing, menurut kaum dan suku-sukunya.
The other Israelis went to their homes in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
25 Pada zaman itu belum ada raja di Israel. Setiap orang melakukan apa yang dianggapnya benar.
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
