Judges 21
1 Also the sones of Israel sworen in Maspha, and seiden, Noon of vs schal yyue to the sones of Beniamyn a wijf of his douytris.
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 And `alle camen to the hows of God in Silo, and thei saten in the `siyt of hym `til to euentid, and thei reisiden the vois, and bigunnen to wepe with greet yellyng,
But now the Israelis went to Bethel and they cried loudly to Yahweh all day, until the sun went down.
3 and seiden, Lord God of Israel, whi is this yuel don in thi puple, that to dai o lynage be takun awey of vs?
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 Sotheli in the tother day thei risiden eerli, and bildyden an auter, and offriden there brent sacrifices and pesible sacrifices, and seiden,
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 Who of alle the lynagis of Israel stiede not in to the oost of the Lord? For whanne thei weren in Maspha, thei `hadden bounde hem silf with a greuouse ooth, that thei that failiden schulden be slayn.
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 And the sones of Israel weren led bi penaunce on her brother Beniamyn, and bigunnen to seie, O lynage of Israel is takun awey;
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 wherof schulen thei take wyues? for alle we sworen in comyn, that we schulen not yyue oure douytris to hem.
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 Therfor thei seiden, Who is of alle the lynagis of Israel, that stiede not to the Lord in Maspha? And lo! the dwelleris of Jabes of Galaad weren foundun, that thei weren not in the oost.
Then [one of] them asked, “What group from any of the tribes of Israel did not send any men here to Mizpah?”
9 Also in that tyme, whanne thei weren in Silo, noon of hem was foundun there.
[They realized that] when the soldiers were counted, there was no one from Jabesh-Gilead [city] who had come there.
10 Therfor thei senten ten thousynde strongeste men, and comaundiden to hem, Go ye, and smyte the dwelleris of Jabes of Galaad bi the scharpnesse of swerd, as wel the wyues as `the litle children of hem.
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 And this thing schal be, which ye `owen to kepe, sle ye alle of male kynde, and the wymmen, that knewen men fleischli; reserue ye the virgyns.
[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 And foure hundrid virgyns, that knewen not the bed of man, weren foundun of Jabes of Galaad; and thei brouyten hem to the castels in Silo, in to the lond of Chanaan.
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 And `thei senten messangeris to the sones of Beniamyn, that weren in the stoon of Remmon; and thei comaundiden to hem, that thei schulden resseyue tho wymmen in pees.
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 And the sones of Beniamyn camen in that tyme, and the douytris of Jabes of Galaad weren youun to hem to wyues; forsothe thei founden not othere wymmen, whiche thei schulden yyue in lijk maner.
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 And al Israel sorewide greetly, and dide penaunce on the sleyng of o lynage of 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 And the grettere men in birthe seiden, What schulen we do to the othere men, that han not take wyues? Alle the wymmen in Beniamyn felden doun,
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 and it `is to vs to puruey `with greet cure and greet studie, that o lynage be not don awey fro Israel.
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 We moun not yyue oure douytris to hem, for we ben boundun with an ooth and cursyng, bi which we seiden, Be he cursid that yyueth of hise douytris a wijf to Beniamyn.
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 And thei token a counsel, and seiden, Lo! annyuersarie solempnyte of the Lord is in Silo, whych is set at the north of the citee of Bethel, and at the eest coost of the weie that goith from Bethel to Siccyma, and at the south of the citee of 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 And thei comaundiden to the sones of Beniamyn, and seiden, Go ye, be ye hid in the vyneris;
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 and whanne ye seen douytris of Silo go forth bi custom to lede daunsis, go ye out of the vyneris sudeynli, and rauysche ye hem, eche man o wijf, and go ye in to the lond of Beniamyn.
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 And whanne the fadris and britheren of hem schulen come, and bigynne to pleyne and plete ayens you, we schulen seie to hem, Haue ye mercy of hem; for thei rauyschiden not hem bi riyt of fiyteris and ouercomeris, but ye `yauen not to hem preiynge that thei schulden take; and the synne is of youre part.
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 And the sones of Beniamyn diden as it was comaundid to hem, and bi her noumbre thei rauyschiden wyues to hem, ech man o wijf, of hem that ledden daunsis. And thei yeden in to her possessioun, and bildiden citees, and dwelliden in tho.
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 And the sones of Israel turneden ayen, bi lynagis and meynees, in to her tabernaclis.
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 In tho dayes was no kyng in Israel, but ech man dide this, that semyde ryytful to hym silf.
At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. Everyone did what they themselves thought was right.
