< Judges 21 >

1 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!”
Ora tinham jurado os homens de Israel em Mispah, dizendo: Nenhum de nós dará sua filha por mulher aos benjamitas.
2 But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
Veio pois o povo a bethel, e ali ficaram até à tarde diante de Deus: e levantaram a sua voz, e prantearam com grande pranto,
3 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]
E disseram: Ah! Senhor Deus de Israel, porque sucedeu isto em Israel, que hoje falte uma tribo em Israel?
4 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.
E sucedeu que, no dia seguinte, o povo pela manhã se levantou, e edificou ali um altar; e ofereceram holocaustos e ofertas pacíficas.
5 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?”
E disseram os filhos de Israel: Quem de todas as tribos de Israel não subiu ao ajuntamento ao Senhor? Porque se tinha feito um grande juramento acerca dos que não viessem ao Senhor a Mispah, dizendo: Morrerá certamente.
6 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).
E arrependeram-se os filhos de Israel acerca de Benjamin, seu irmão, e disseram: Cortada é hoje de Israel uma tribo.
7 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?”
Que faremos, acerca de mulheres, com os que ficaram de resto, pois nós temos jurado pelo Senhor que nenhuma de nossas filhas lhes dariamos por mulheres?
8 Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
E disseram: há alguma das tribos de Israel que não subisse ao Senhor a Mispah? E eis que ninguém de Jabes de Gilead viera ao arraial, à congregação.
9 [They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
Porquanto o povo se contou: e eis que nenhum dos moradores de Jabes de Gilead se achou ali.
10 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.
Então o ajuntamento enviou lá doze mil homens dos mais valentes, e lhes ordenou, dizendo: Ide, e ao fio da espada feri aos moradores de Jabes de Gilead, e às mulheres e aos meninos.
11 [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].”
Porém isto é o que haveis de fazer: A todo o macho e a toda a mulher que se houver deitado com um homem totalmente destruireis.
12 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].
E acharam entre os moradores de Jabes de Gilead quatrocentas moças virgens, que não conheceram homem deitando-se com macho: e as trouxeram ao arraial, a Silo, que está na terra de Canaan.
13 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.
Então todo o ajuntamento enviou, e falou aos filhos de Benjamin, que estavam na penha de Rimmon, e lhes proclamou a paz.
14 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].
E ao mesmo tempo voltaram os benjamitas; e deram-lhes as mulheres que haviam guardado com vida, das mulheres de Jabes de Gilead: porém estas ainda lhes não bastaram.
15 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.
Então o povo se arrependeu por causa de Benjamin: porquanto o Senhor tinha feito abertura nas tribos de Israel.
16 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?
E disseram os anciãos do ajuntamento: Que faremos acerca de mulheres para os que ficaram de resto? pois as mulheres são destruídas de Benjamin.
17 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.
Disseram mais: A herança dos que ficaram de resto é de Benjamin, e nenhuma tribo de Israel deve ser destruída.
18 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.”
Porém nós não lhes poderemos dar mulheres de nossas filhas, porque os filhos de Israel juraram, dizendo: Maldito aquele que der mulher aos benjamitas.
19 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].”
Então disseram: Eis que de ano em ano há solenidade do Senhor em Silo, que se celebra para o norte de bethel, da banda do nascente do sol, pelo caminho alto que sobe de bethel a Sichem, e para o sul de Lebona.
20 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.
E mandaram aos filhos de Benjamin, dizendo: Ide, e emboscai-vos nas vinhas,
21 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].
E olhai, e eis ai, saindo as filhas de Silo a dançar em ranchos, saí vós das vinhas, e arrebatai-vos cada um sua mulher das filhas de Silo, e ide-vos à terra de Benjamin.
22 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].’”
E será que, quando seus pais ou seus irmãos vierem a litigar conosco, nós lhes diremos: Por amor de nós, tende compaixão deles, pois nesta guerra não tomamos mulheres para cada um deles: porque não lhas destes vós, para que agora ficasseis culpados?
23 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.
E os filhos de Benjamin o fizeram assim, e levaram mulheres conforme ao número deles, das que arrebatavam dos ranchos que dançavam: e foram-se, e voltaram à sua herança, e reedificaram as cidades, e habitaram nelas.
24 The other Israelis went to their homes in the areas where their tribes and clans lived, the areas that God had allotted to them.
Também os filhos de Israel partiram então dali, cada um para a sua tribo e para a sua geração: e sairam dali, cada um para a sua herança.
25 At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
Naqueles dias não havia rei em Israel: porém cada um fazia o que parecia reto aos seus olhos.

< Judges 21 >