1 And the men of Israel swore {nishba: solemn vow} at Mizpah {mitspeh: gathering site}, saying, “No man among us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.”
2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God {Elohim, Divine Arbiter}, lifted their voice {kol: unified outcry}, and wept with great grief.
3 And they said, “Why, LORD God of Israel {YHWH Elohei Yisrael, Covenant Nation God}, has this happened in Israel, that one tribe should be missing {hippāked: excluded} from Israel today?”
4 And it happened on the next day that the people rose early, and they built an altar there, and offered up burnt offerings {olot: ascending sacrifices} and peace offerings {shelamim: fellowship gifts}.
5 And the sons of Israel said, “Who is there of all the tribes of Israel who did not go up in the assembly to the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}? For the great oath {shevuah: binding sworn promise} had been taken concerning anyone who did not go up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, ‘He shall surely be put to death.’”
6 And the sons of Israel were grieved {vayinnachamu: emotional compassion} toward Benjamin, their brother, and they said, “Today one tribe has been cut off {niggda: severed} from Israel.”
7 What shall we do for them, for those who remain {lanotarim: survivors}, for wives? For we have sworn by the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Witness} not to give them any of our daughters as wives.
8 And they said, “Who is the one from the tribes of Israel who did not go up to the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} at Mizpah?” And behold, no man came to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly {kahal: gathered congregation}.
9 And the people {haʿam: assembled group} were mustered, and behold, there was not there a man from the inhabitants {miyoshevei: settled dwellers} of Jabesh Gilead.
10 So the assembly {haʾedah: national council} sent twelve thousand men from the sons of valor, and they commanded them, saying, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead by the edge of the sword, including the women and the little ones {hattaf: children and dependents}.”
11 And this is the thing {davar: directive} that you shall do: Every male and every woman who has known the lying with a male, you shall destroy {tacharimu: total ban}.
12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who were virgins {betulah: never married} and who had not known a man by lying with a male {mishkav zakhar: sexual intercourse}, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the entire assembly {haedah: gathered people} sent messengers and spoke to the sons of Benjamin, who were at the rock of Rimmon, and they called to them, “Peace {shalom: well-being and reconciliation}.”
14 So Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women {nashim: female survivors} whom they had kept alive from the women of Jabesh Gilead. But they did not find enough {ken: sufficient number for the need} for them.
15 And the people were grieved for Benjamin because the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} had made a breach {peretz: decisive breach} among the tribes of Israel.
16 And the elders {ziknei ha’edah: assembly leaders} said, “What shall we do for the survivors regarding wives, since a woman has been destroyed from Benjamin {mi-binyamin: Benjamin’s tribe}?”
17 And they said, “An inheritance {yerushat: legal possession} must remain for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out {yimmahe: utterly erased} from Israel.”
18 And we are not able to give them wives from our daughters, for the sons of Israel have sworn{nishbe’u: solemn vow}, saying, “Cursed is the one who gives a wife to Benjamin{Vinyamin: Israelite tribe}.”
19 And they said, “Behold, there is a festival {chag: religious celebration} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Lord} in Shiloh, which occurs yearly, north of Bethel, east of the road that ascends from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”
20 And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, “Go and set an ambush {aravtem: planned surprise attack} in the vineyards {keramim: cultivated grape fields}.”
21 And you shall watch and behold, and if the daughters of Shiloh go out to dance in the dances {mecholot: festive circles}, then you shall come out from the vineyards and seize for yourselves each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and you shall go to the land of Benjamin {eretz: tribal territory}.
22 And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to dispute with us, that we will say to them, “Show favor to them {khannunu: grant clemency}, because we did not take a wife for each man in the war, and because you did not give to them at this time, so that you would not be guilty {te’ashamu: incur blame}.”
23 So the sons of Benjamin took {vayyaśu: carried off} women according to their number from the dancers whom they had captured, and then they returned to their inheritance {nachalatam: ancestral land}. They rebuilt the cities and settled in them.
24 And the Israelites {bnei-yisrael: descendants of Jacob} departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and to his family {mishpakhah: kinship unit}, and they went out from there, each man to his inheritance.
25 In those days, there was no king {melakh: central authority} in Israel; each man lived by what he regarded as upright {hayashar: morally straight} in his own eyes.