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.
Wives for the Men of Benjamin
1 When the Israelites had met at Mizpah before the war with Benjamin, they had made this sacred promise: “None of us will ever let our daughters marry any man from Benjamin.”
2 After the war with Benjamin, the Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel and sat there until sunset. They cried loudly and bitterly 3 and prayed, “Our Lord, you are the God of Israel. Why did you let this happen? Now one of our tribes is almost gone.”
4 Early the next morning, the Israelites built an altar and offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing. 5 Then they asked each other, “Did any of the tribes of Israel fail to come to the place of worship? We made a sacred promise that anyone who didn't come to the meeting at Mizpah would be put to death.”
6 The Israelites were sad about what had happened to the Benjamin tribe, and they said, “One of our tribes was almost wiped out. 7 Only a few men of Benjamin weren't killed in the war. We need to get wives for them, so the tribe won't completely disappear. But how can we do that, after promising in the Lord's name that we wouldn't let them marry any of our daughters?”
8-9 Again the Israelites asked, “Did any of the tribes stay away from the meeting at Mizpah?”
After asking around, they discovered that no one had come from Jabesh in Gilead. 10-11 So they sent 12,000 warriors with these orders: “Attack Jabesh in Gilead and kill everyone, except the women who have never been married.”
12 The warriors attacked Jabesh in Gilead, and returned to their camp at Shiloh in Canaan with 400 young women.
13 The Israelites met and sent messengers to the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock, telling them that the Israelites were willing to make peace with them. 14 So the men of Benjamin came back from Rimmon Rock, and the Israelites let them marry the young women from Jabesh. But there weren't enough women.
15 The Israelites were very sad, because the Lord had almost wiped out one of their tribes. 16 Then their leaders said:
All the women of the Benjamin tribe were killed. How can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? 17 If they don't have children, one of the Israelite tribes will die out. 18 But we can't let the men of Benjamin marry any of our daughters. We made a sacred promise not to do that, and if we break our promise, we will be under our own curse.
19 Then someone suggested, “What about the Lord's Festival that takes place each year in Shiloh? It's held north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and just east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem.”
20 The leaders told the men of Benjamin who still did not have wives:
Go to Shiloh and hide in the vineyards near the festival. 21 Wait there for the young women of Shiloh to come out and perform their dances. Then rush out and grab one of the young women, then take her home as your wife. 22 If the fathers or brothers of these women complain about this, we'll say, “Be kind enough to let those men keep your daughter. After all, we couldn't get enough wives for all the men of Benjamin in the battle at Jabesh. And because you didn't give them permission to marry your daughters, you won't be under the curse we earlier agreed on.”
23 The men of Benjamin went to Shiloh and hid in the vineyards. The young women soon started dancing, and each man grabbed one of them and carried her off. Then the men of Benjamin went back to their own land and rebuilt their towns and started living in them again.
24 Afterwards, the rest of the Israelites returned to their homes and families.
Israel Was Not Ruled by a King
25 In those days Israel wasn't ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right.