Wives for the Tribe of Benjamin
1 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the Lord: “None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours.” 2 So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: 3 “Lord God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?”
4 Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. 5 They asked, “Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the Lord's presence at Mizpah?” (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) 6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, “Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. 7 What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters.”
8 When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there; 9 at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. 10 So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, “Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. 11 Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. 14 The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.
15 The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the leaders of the gathering said, “There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left? 17 Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, 18 but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters.”
19 Then they thought, “The yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh is coming soon.” (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) 20 They told the Benjaminites, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21 and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you. 22 If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, ‘Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.’”
23 The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there. 24 At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.
25 There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.
Babhenjamini banopiwa bakadzi
1 Balume be Iziraela bakabe batuna ku Mizipha beti, “Akuna wedu unowolobodza nkololokadzi uwe ku Babhenjamini.” 2 Bathu bakayenda ku Bhetele bakagala mbeli kwe Ndzimu kunoti madekwana, bemilidza mahwi, belila kwazo 3 beti, “Imwi Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela, ngekutini ikoku kwashingikala mu Iziraela? Ini ludzi gumwe gusipo mu Iziraela nasi.”
4 Kwakati tjimuka bathu bakabaka tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo bakadusa zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa ne zwipo zwe mbakisano.
5 Baiziraela bakabhuzwa beti, “Ndiupi mu njudzi dzose dze Iziraela wakakong'wa kuwokubungana mbeli kwa Yahwe?” Ngoti bakabe batuna kuti iye unokong'wa kuwokubungana mbeli kwa Yahwe ku Mizipha, nge malebeswa unowobulawa. 6 Ngono bathu be Iziraela bakabe ne ngoni ne zwikamu zwabo Babhenjamini beti, “Nasi ludzi gung'ompela gwathubugwa mu Iziraela, 7 tithame tjini ngekwe bakadzi muna ibaba bakasala, ngoti takatuna kuti atitowobapa bakololokadzi kuti babalobole kene?”
8 Bakabhuzwa beti, “Ndigupi gwe njudzi dze Iziraela gwakakong'wa kuwokubungana mbeli kwa Yahwe ku Mizipha?” Bakawana kuli kuti akuna we Jabeshi Giliyadi wakabuya ku nshangano we bukotokelo. 9 Ngoti kwakati bathu be bagwa, kukawanika kulikuti akuna we bathu be Jabeshi Giliyadi uyapo.
10 Ndizo gubungano likatumila balume bali zwiwulu zwili gumi lina zwibili (12 000) be babhayani, likabadwa likati, “Yendani munobulaya bagali be Jabeshi Giliyadi nge thumo kose ne bakadzi ne bana. 11 Tjamakafanila thama ndiyetji, nlume mmwe ne mmwe ne nkadzi mmwe ne mmwe wakatongo walilana abulawe.” 12 Mu bagali be Jabeshi Giliyadi bakawana baanadi bali mazana manna (400) basathu bakawalilana, bakabayisa ku bukotokelo ku Shilo mu shango ye Kanana.
13 Ngono gubungano lose likatumila dama ku Babhenjamini bakabe bali ku shongwe ya Rimoni, lileba mbakiso kubali. 14 Babhenjamini bakashanduka mu tjibaka itjetjo, bakapiwa bakadzi be Jabeshi Giliyadi bakabe baletjiwa ku tjila, koga bakasibalizane.
15 Bathu bakahwila ngoni Bhenjamini ngobe Yahwe bakabe badusa buli mu njudzi dze Iziraela.
16 Bakulu be gubungano bakabhuzwa kakale beti, “Basala tibathamile tjini kuti bawane bakadzi, ngoti bakadzi be Bhenjamini bakalobesiwa?” 17 Bakadwilila beti, “Kwakafanila kube ne thaka ye malimbelimbe e Bhenjamini, kuti ndizo ludzi gusidzimidziwe mu Iziraela. 18 Tokonegwa nekubalobodza bakololokadzi bedu, ngoti tili Baiziraela takatuna titi, ‘Wakalongwa bhiso iye unowolobodza nkololokadzi uwe ku N'bhenjamini.’ ” 19 Ndizo bakati, “Bonani, kuna Nzano wa Yahwe we gole ne gole ku Shilo ku burwa gwe Bhetele, kunobhuda zhuba kwe zila yakazhuka inodwa ku Bhetele iyenda ku Shekemu, ku bunandzwa gwe Lebona.” 20 Bakalaya Babhenjamini beti, “Yendani munolalila ku minda dze mizhambi, 21 mulinge, apa bakololokadzi be Shilo bebhudila kuzhe kunozana mizano, mubhude mu minda dze mizhambi ngono mmwe ne mmwe azwitolele nkadzi mu bakololokadzi be Shilo bayende ku shango ya Bhenjamini. 22 Ha botate babo ne hazwadzi dzabo bangang'ong'ola kutili towobadwa titi, ‘Mutithamile buthu nge kubabhatsha, ngoti atizobawanila bakadzi mu ngwa, ngono amutemuli nlandu ngoti ate imwi makabapa bakololokadzi benyu.’ ”
23 Ndizo ndiko sekwa kathama Babhenjamini. Kwakati banana batjazana, nlume mmwe ne mmwe katola ng'ompela kube nkadzi uwe. Bakabgwilila ku shango yabo, bakabaka mizi bakagala muili. 24 Mu tjibaka itjetjo Baiziraela bakayenda, bebgwilila kanyi kwabo ku njudzi dzabo ne misha yabo, mmwe ne mmwe ku thaka iye.
25 Mu mazhuba iyawo kwakabe kusina mambo mu Iziraela, mmwe ne mmwe wakabe ethama tjaanobona tjakalulwama mu mesho awe.