Judges 21
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.
Men Israels Mænd havde i Mizpa aflagt den Ed: »Ingen af os vil give en Benjaminit sin Datter til Ægte!«
2 And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.
Da nu Folket var kommet til Betel, sad de der lige til Aften for Guds Aasyn og opløftede deres Røst, græd heftigt
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?
og sagde: »Hvorfor, HERRE, Israels Gud, er dog dette hændet i Israel, saa at vi i Dag maa savne en Stamme af Israel?«
4 Then on the day after, the people got up early and made an altar there, offering burned offerings and peace-offerings.
Tidligt næste Morgen byggede Folket et Alter der og ofrede Brændofre og Takofre.
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.
Derpaa sagde Israeliterne: »Hvem blandt alle Israels Stammer undlod at drage op med Forsamlingen til HERREN?« Der var nemlig svoret en dyr Ed paa, at enhver, der undlod at drage op til HERREN i Mizpa, skulde dø.
6 And the children of Israel were moved with pity for Benjamin their brother, saying, Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
Men nu gjorde det Israeliterne ondt for deres Broder Benjamin, og de sagde: »I Dag er en Stamme hugget af 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.
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 til Ægte?«
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.
Saa spurgte de: »Er der maaske 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.
9 For when the people were numbered, not one man of the people of Jabesh-gilead was present.
Saa blev Folket mønstret, og se, der var ingen af Indbyggerne fra Jabesj i Gilead.
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.
Da sendte Menigheden 12 000 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.
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.
Saaledes skal I bære eder ad: Alle af Mandkøn og alle Kvinder, der har haft Omgang med Mænd, skal I lægge Band paa!«
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.
De fandt saa 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.
13 And all the meeting sent to the men of Benjamin who were in the rock of Rimmon, offering them peace.
Derpaa sendte hele Menigheden Sendebud hen for at underhandle med Benjaminiterne, der befandt sig paa Rimmons Klippe, og tilbyde dem Fred.
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.
Paa det Tidspunkt vendte Benjaminiterne saa tilbage, og de gav dem de Kvinder fra Jabesj i Gilead, som man havde ladet i Live. Men de var ikke nok til dem.
15 And the people were moved with pity for Benjamin, because the Lord had let his wrath loose on the tribes of Israel.
Da gjorde det Folket ondt for Benjamin, fordi HERREN havde gjort et Skaar i Israels Stammer.
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?
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?«
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,
Og de sagde: »Hvorledes kan der reddes en Rest af Benjamin, saa at ikke en Stamme i Israel gaar til Grunde?
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.
Vi kan jo ikke give dem nogen af vore Døtre til Ægte!« Israeliterne havde nemlig svoret og sagt: »Forbandet være den, som giver Benjaminiterne en Hustru!«
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.
Da sagde de: »Se, HERRENS Højtid fejres jo hvert Aar i Silo!« Det ligger norden for Betel, østen for Vejen, der fører op fra Betel til Sikem, og sønden for Lebona.
20 And they said to the men of Benjamin, Go into the vine-gardens, waiting there secretly,
Og de bød Benjaminiterne: »Gaa hen og læg eder paa Lur i Vingaardene!
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.
Se saa nøje til, og naar de unge Kvinder fra Silo kommer ud for at opføre deres Danse, skal I komme frem af Vingaardene og røve hver sin Hustru af de unge Kvinder fra Silo og saa drage hjem til Benjamins Land!
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.
Naar saa deres Fædre eller Brødre kommer for at gaa i Rette med eder, skal I sige til dem: Skaan os, thi vi fik os ikke alle en Hustru i Krigen! Det er jo ikke eder, der har givet os dem; i saa Fald vilde I have forbrudt eder!«
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.
Det gjorde Benjaminiterne da, og de tog sig Hustruer af de dansende Kvinder, som de røvede, een til hver; derpaa vendte de tilbage til deres Arvelod, opbyggede deres Byer og boede i dem.
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.
Og samtidig drog Israeliterne derfra, hver til sin Stamme og Slægt, og de gik derfra hver til sin Arvelod,
25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did what seemed right to him.
I de Dage var der ingen Konge i Israel; enhver gjorde, hvad han fandt for godt.
