Hakim-hakim 21
1 Pasukan Israel kembali ke tempat ibadah TUHAN di Betel dan duduk sambil menangis tersedu-sedu di hadapan Allah sampai malam. Mereka berseru, “Oh TUHAN, Allah Israel, mengapa ini sampai terjadi di Israel? Hari ini bangsa Israel kehilangan satu suku.” Mereka berkata begitu karena sebelumnya, ketika kesebelas suku Israel mengadakan pertemuan penting umat TUHAN di Mispa, mereka sudah berjanji dengan sumpah kepada TUHAN bahwa suku-suku Israel tidak akan menikahkan anak perempuan mereka dengan orang Benyamin.
Now the men of Israel had made a promise at Mizpah, “None of us will give his daughter to marry a Benjamite.”
Then the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until the evening, and with loud voices they wept bitterly.
They called out, “Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has this happened to Israel, that one of our tribes should be missing today?”
4 Pagi-pagi sekali keesokan harinya, mereka membangun mezbah di sana dan mempersembahkan kurban yang dibakar habis dan kurban tanda damai.
The next day the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
5 Mereka bertanya, “Siapa dari suku-suku Israel yang tidak ikut hadir menghadap TUHAN waktu itu?” Mereka bertanya demikian karena sebelumnya mereka sudah berjanji dengan sumpah kepada TUHAN untuk menghukum mati orang-orang yang tidak menghadiri perkumpulan penting umat TUHAN di Mispa.
The people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to Yahweh?” For they had made an important promise concerning anyone who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah. They said, “He would certainly be put to death.”
6 Mereka merasa kasihan kepada suku Benyamin, saudara mereka itu. Kata mereka, “Hari ini bangsa Israel kehilangan satu suku.
The people of Israel had compassion for their brother Benjamin. They said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel.
7 Dengan adanya sumpah janji kita kepada TUHAN untuk tidak menikahkan anak perempuan kita dengan mereka, bagaimana kita bisa menyediakan istri bagi orang-orang Benyamin yang tersisa?”
Who will provide wives for those who are left, since we have made a promise to Yahweh that we will not let any of them marry our daughters?”
8 Kemudian mereka bertanya lagi, “Siapa di antara suku-suku Israel yang tidak menghadiri perkumpulan umat TUHAN di Mispa?” Kemudian mereka menghitung orang-orang yang sedang berkumpul di Betel. Maka didapatilah bahwa ternyata tidak ada warga kota Yabes di Gilead yang hadir di sana.
They said, “Which of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?” It was found that no one had come to the assembly from Jabesh Gilead.
For when the people were set out in an orderly manner, behold, none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there.
10 Maka mereka mengutus dua belas ribu pasukan terbaik mereka untuk membunuh seluruh penduduk Yabes, baik laki-laki, anak-anak, maupun semua perempuan yang sudah menikah.
The assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with instructions to go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword, including the women and children.
“Do this: You must kill every male and every woman who has slept with a man.”
12 Lalu mereka mendapatkan 400 orang perawan dari antara penduduk Yabes. Mereka membawa gadis-gadis itu ke perkemahan di Silo di daerah Kanaan.
The men found among those living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh, in Canaan.
13 Kemudian perkumpulan umat itu mengirim utusan kepada orang-orang Benyamin di bukit batu Rimon untuk menawarkan perdamaian.
The entire assembly sent a message and told the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon that they were offering them peace.
14 Maka orang-orang Benyamin itu kembali, dan umat Israel memberikan gadis-gadis yang dibawa dari kota Yabes untuk menjadi istri mereka. Tetapi jumlah gadis itu tidak cukup untuk semua orang Benyamin yang tersisa.
The Benjamites returned at that time and they were given the women of Jabesh Gilead, but there were not enough women for all of them.
15 Bangsa Israel merasa kasihan kepada suku Benyamin, karena TUHAN sudah membuat salah satu suku Israel hampir punah.
The people were sorry for what happened to Benjamin, because Yahweh made a division between the tribes of Israel.
16 Kemudian tua-tua bangsa Israel bertanya, “Semua perempuan suku Benyamin sudah dibunuh, bagaimana kita bisa mendapatkan istri bagi sisa orang Benyamin selebihnya?
Then the leaders of the assembly said, “How will we arrange wives for the Benjamites who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been killed?”
17 Mereka harus punya keturunan karena tanah suku Benyamin harus tetap diwariskan kepada keturunan mereka, supaya bangsa Israel tidak kehilangan satu suku.
They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe is not destroyed from Israel.
18 Tetapi kita tidak boleh menikahkan anak perempuan kita dengan mereka karena kita sudah bersumpah, ‘Biarlah TUHAN mengutuk orang Israel yang memberikan anak perempuannya menjadi istri suku Benyamin.’”
We cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the people of Israel had made a promise, 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.'”
19 Kemudian mereka berkata lagi, “Kita bisa memanfaatkan acara perayaan tahunan untuk TUHAN di Silo.” (Silo terletak di sebelah utara Betel, di sebelah selatan Lebona dan di sebelah timur jalan raya dari Betel menuju ke Sikem).
So they said, “You know there is a feast for Yahweh every year at Shiloh (which is north of Bethel, east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah).”
20 Maka mereka menyuruh orang-orang Benyamin, “Pergilah ke perayaan di Silo itu dan bersembunyilah di kebun-kebun anggur.
They instructed the men of Benjamin, saying, “Go and hide in secret and wait in the vineyards.
21 Waktu gadis-gadis kota Silo keluar untuk menari, kalian masing-masing keluarlah dari persembunyianmu di kebun anggur dan tangkaplah satu gadis. Kalian bisa membawa lari gadis itu ke wilayah suku Benyamin untuk menjadikan dia istrimu.
Watch for the time when the girls from Shiloh come out to dance, then rush out of the vineyards and each one of you should grab a wife from the girls of Shiloh, then go back to the land of Benjamin.
22 Kalau ayah atau saudara mereka menuntut hal itu kepada kami, kami akan menjawab mereka, ‘Mohon maklumi dan kasihanilah orang-orang Benyamin itu, karena kita tidak mendapatkan cukup banyak istri untuk mereka waktu kita memusnahkan kota Yabes. Kalian tidak melanggar perjanjian kita kepada TUHAN, karena kalian bukan dengan sengaja memberikan anak-anak perempuanmu kepada mereka.’”
When their fathers or their brothers come to protest to us, we will say to them, 'Show us favor! Let them remain because we did not get wives for each man during the war. You are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.'”
23 Maka suku Benyamin berbuat demikian. Waktu perayaan di Silo, mereka masing-masing menculik salah satu gadis yang sedang menari dan membawanya pulang ke tanah warisan mereka. Lalu orang Benyamin membangun kembali kota-kota mereka.
The people of Benjamin did so. They took the number of wives that they needed from the girls who were dancing and they carried them off to be their wives. They went and returned to the place of their inheritance. They rebuilt the towns and lived in them.
24 Kemudian pertemuan suku-suku Israel itu selesai dan setiap orang pulang ke tanah warisan mereka masing-masing.
Then the people of Israel left that place and went home, each one to his own tribe and clan, and each one to his own inheritance.
25 Demikianlah yang terjadi pada zaman itu di Israel. Waktu itu Israel tidak punya raja. Setiap orang melakukan apa yang dianggap benar di mata mereka masing-masing.
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
