Benjāmins tiek glābts no iznīcināšanas
1 Israēla vīri bija zvērējuši Micpā: “Neviens no mums nedos savu meitu benjāminietim par sievu!” 2 Tauta sanāca Bētelē, sēdēja tur Dieva priekšā līdz vakaram un jo skaļi un rūgti raudāja, 3 sacīdami: “Kungs, Israēla Dievs, kāpēc tā ir noticis Israēlam, ka šodien ir zudusi viena no Israēla ciltīm!?” 4 Nākamajā rītā agri tauta cēla tur altāri un pienesa sadedzināmos upurus un miera upurus.
5 Israēla dēli sacīja: “Kurš nav atnācis visu Israēla cilšu sapulcē pie Kunga?” – jo tie bija saistīti ar smagu zvērestu, ka tam, kurš nebūs atnācis pie Kunga Micpā, mirtin jāmirst! 6 Israēla dēliem bija žēl savu brāļu benjāminiešu. Tie sacīja: “Šodien viens zars no Israēla ir nocirsts. 7 Ko lai mēs darām ar atlikušajiem, lai tie dabūtu sievas, jo mēs taču esam zvērējuši pie Kunga nedot viņiem sievas no savām meitām?” 8 Un tie runāja: “Vai ir kāda no Israēla ciltīm, kas nav nākusi pie Kunga uz Micpu?” Un, redzi, neviens no Jābēš-Gileādas nebija atnācis uz sapulci nometnē. 9 Ļaudis tika pārskaitīti, un tiešām tur nebija neviena no Jābēš-Gileādas. 10 Tad viņi aizsūtīja turp divpadsmit tūkstošus vīru lielu pulku no stipriniekiem un pavēlēja tiem: “Ejiet un ar zobena asmeni izkaujiet visus, kas mīt Jābēš-Gileādā, arī sievas un bērnus! 11 Dariet tā – ikvienu vīru un sievu, kas ar vīru gulējusi, iznīciniet!” 12 Un starp Jābēš-Gileādas iedzīvotājiem tie atrada četrsimt jaunavas, kas nebija ar vīru gulējušas. Tās viņi atveda uz nometni Šīlo, kas Kanaāna zemē.
13 Tad visa sapulce sūtīja vēsti Benjāmina dēliem, kas bija uz Rimmonas klints, un pasludināja tiem mieru. 14 Tad benjāminieši atgriezās, un tie deva viņiem tās sievas, kas bija atstātas dzīvas no Jābēšas sievām, bet tiem to nepietika. 15 Un tautai bija žēl Benjāmina, jo Kungs bija izrāvis robu Israēla ciltīs. 16 Tad sapulces vecajie sacīja: “Ko lai darām ar tiem, kas palikuši bez sievām, jo benjāminiešu sievas ir iznīcinātas?!” 17 Viņi teica: “Izbēgušajiem benjāminiešiem ir jādabū mantojums, lai cilts netiktu izdzēsta no Israēla. 18 Bet mēs nevaram tiem dot sievas no mūsu meitām, jo Israēla dēli ir zvērējuši: nolādēts, kas dod sievu benjāminietim!”
19 Tad viņi teica: “Redzi, gadu no gada Kungam ir svētki Šīlo, kas atrodas uz ziemeļiem no Bēteles, uz austrumiem no lielceļa, kas iet augšup no Bēteles uz Šehemu, uz dienvidiem no Lebonas.” 20 Un viņi lika Benjāmina dēliem: “Ejiet un noslēpieties vīnadārzos! 21 Kad jūs redzēsiet – lūk, Šīlo meitas nāk laukā, lai grieztos dejā, tad iznāciet no vīnadārziem, saķeriet sev katrs pa sievai no Šīlo meitām un dodieties uz Benjāmina zemi! 22 Ja viņu tēvi vai brāļi nāks mums sūdzēties, mēs tiem teiksim: ļaujiet mums būt žēlīgiem pret viņiem, jo mēs neesam ieguvuši vīriem sievas karā, nedz jūs esat viņiem tās devuši, ka jūs būtu vainīgi.”
23 Benjāmina dēli tā arī darīja – ņēma sievas pēc sava skaita no dejotājām, kuras tie nolaupīja, un tad atgriezās savā īpašumā, atjaunoja pilsētas un tur apmetās. 24 Bet Israēla dēli tolaik devās prom no turienes katrs uz savu cilti un dzimtu – ikviens devās uz savu īpašumu. 25 Tolaik Israēlā nebija ķēniņa un katrs darīja, kā tam šķita pareizi.
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.
