Dommer 21
1 Men Israels Mænd havde i Mizpa aflagt den Ed: "Ingen af os vil give en Benjaminit sin Datter til Ægte!"
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 Da nu Folket var kommet til Betel, sad de der lige til Aften for Guds Åsyn og opløftede deres Røst, græd heftigt
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 og sagde: "Hvorfor, HERRE, Israels Gud, er dog dette hændet i Israel, så at vi i Dag må savne en Stamme af Israel?"
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 Tidligt næste Morgen byggede Folket et Alter der og ofrede Brændofre og Takofre.
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 Derpå sagde Israelitterne: "Hvem blandt alle Israels Stammer undlod at drage op med Forsamlingen til HERREN?" Der var nemlig svoret en dyr Ed på, at enhver, der undlod at drage op til HERREN i Mizpa, skulde dø.
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 Men nu gjorde det Israelitterne ondt for deres Broder Benjamin, og de sagde: "I Dag er en Stamme hugget af Israel!
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 Hvad skal vi gøre for dem, der er tilbage, for at skaffe dem Hustruer, eftersom vi har svoret ved HERREN, at vi ikke vil give dem nogen af vore Døtre fil Ægte?"
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 Så spurgte de: "Er der måske en af Israels Stammer, der undlod at drage op til HERREN i Mizpa?" Og se, der var ingen kommet til Lejren, til Forsamlingen, fra Jabesj i Gilead.
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 Så blev Folket mønstret, og se, der var ingen af Indbyggerne fra Jabesj i Gilead.
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 Da sendte Menigheden 12000 Mand af de tapreste Folk derhen med den Befaling: "Drag hen og hug Indbyggerne i Jabesj i Gilead ned med Sværdet tillige med deres Kvinder og Børn.
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 Således skal I bære eder ad: Alle af Mandkøn og alle Kvinder, der har haft Omgang med Mænd, skal I lægge Band på!"
[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 De fandt så hos Indbyggerne i Jabesj i Gilead 400 unge Piger, der var Jomfruer og ikke havde haft Omgang med nogen Mand, og dem førte de til Lejren i Silo i Kana'ans Land.
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 Derpå sendte hele Menigheden Sendebud hen for af underhandle med Benjaminiterne, der befandt sig på Rimmons Klippe, og tilbyde dem Fred.
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 På det Tidspunkt vendte Benjaminiterne så tilbage, og de gav dem de Kvinder fra Jabesj i Gilead, som man havde ladet i Live. Men de var ikke nok til dem.
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 Da gjorde det Folket ondt for Benjamin, fordi HERREN havde gjort et Skår i Israels Stammer.
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 Og Menighedens Ældste sagde: "Hvad skal vi gøre for dem, der er tilbage, for at skaffe dem Hustruer, eftersom alle Kvinder i Benjamin er udryddet?"
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?
17 Og de sagde: "Hvorledes kan der reddes en Rest af Benjamin, så at ikke en Stamme i Israel går til Grunde?
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.
18 Vi kan jo ikke give dem nogen af vore Døtre til Ægte!" Israelitterne havde nemlig svoret og sagt: "Forbandet være den, som giver Benjaminiterne en Hustru!"
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 Da sagde de: "Se, HERRENs Højtid fejres jo hvert År i Silo!" Det ligger norden for Betel, østen for Vejen, der fører op fra Betel til Sikem, og sønden for 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 Og de bød Benjaminiterne: "Gå hen og læg eder på Lur i Vingårdene!
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 Se så nøje til, og når de unge Kvinder fra Silo kommer ud for at opføre deres Danse, skal I komme frem af Vingårdene og røve hver sin Hustru af de unge Kvinder fra Silo og så drage hjem til Benjamins Land!
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 Når så deres Fædre eller Brødre kommer for at gå i Rette med eder, skal I sige til dem: Skån os, thi vi fik os ikke alle en Hustru i Krigen! Det er jo ikke eder, der har givet os dem; i så Fald vilde I have forbrudt eder!"
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 Det gjorde Benjaminiterne da, og de tog sig Hustruer af de dansende Kvinder, som de røvede, een til hver; derpå vendte de tilbage til deres Arvelod, opbyggede deres Byer og boede i dem.
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 Og samtidig drog Israelitterne derfra, hver til sin Stamme og Slægt, og de gik derfra hver til sin Arvelod,
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 I de Dage var der ingen Konge i Israel; enhver gjorde, hvad han fandt for godt.
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
