Judges 21:1-7
Judges 21:1-7 King James Version (KJV)
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; and said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel? And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death. And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
Judges 21:1-7 The Message (MSG)
Back at Mizpah the men of Israel had taken an oath: “No man among us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.” Now, back in Bethel, the people sat in the presence of God until evening. They cried loudly; there was widespread lamentation. They said, “Why, O GOD, God of Israel, has this happened? Why do we find ourselves today missing one whole tribe from Israel?” Early the next morning, the people got busy and built an altar. They sacrificed Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings. Then the Israelites said, “Who from all the tribes of Israel didn’t show up as we gathered in the presence of GOD?” For they had all taken a sacred oath that anyone who had not gathered in the presence of GOD at Mizpah had to be put to death. * * * But the People of Israel were feeling sorry for Benjamin, their brothers. They said, “Today, one tribe is cut off from Israel. How can we get wives for those who are left? We have sworn by GOD not to give any of our daughters to them in marriage.”
Judges 21:1-7 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage.” So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. They said, “Why, O LORD, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?” It came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the sons of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?”
Judges 21:1-7 New Century Version (NCV)
At Mizpah the men of Israel had sworn, “Not one of us will let his daughter marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” The people went to the city of Bethel and sat before God until evening, crying loudly. They said, “LORD, God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe of Israel is missing today?” Early the next day the people built an altar and put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on it. Then the Israelites asked, “Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us in the presence of the LORD?” They asked this question because they had sworn that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be killed. The Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the Benjaminites. They said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. We swore before the LORD that we would not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the remaining men of Benjamin will have wives?”
Judges 21:1-7 American Standard Version (ASV)
Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife. And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore. And they said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to-day one tribe lacking in Israel? And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up in the assembly unto Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up unto Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely be put to death. And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters to wives?
Judges 21:1-7 New International Version (NIV)
The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. “LORD, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?” Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah was to be put to death. Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?”
Judges 21:1-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife.” Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, and said, “O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?” So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. The children of Israel said, “Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD?” For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today. What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives?”
Judges 21:1-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Now the men of Israel had sworn [an oath] at Mizpah, “None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to [a man of] Benjamin.” So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. [Judg 20:27] They said, “O LORD, God of Israel, why has this come about in Israel, that there should be today one tribe missing from Israel?” And the next day the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the sons of Israel said, “Which one from all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah, saying, “He shall certainly be put to death.” And the sons of Israel felt sorry [and had compassion] for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe has been cut off from Israel today. What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn [an oath] by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”
Judges 21:1-7 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly. “O LORD, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!” Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. Then they said, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the LORD?” At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD’s presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death. The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?”
Judges 21:1-7 The Passion Translation (TPT)
The men of Israel had bound themselves by an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.” And then the people came to Bethel and sat until evening before God, and they raised their voice with groaning and great weeping. They said, “YAHWEH, the true God of Israel, we have lost one of our own tribes today. Why has this happened to Israel?” When the next day dawned, the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the Israelites asked one another, “Which tribe of Israel failed to appear in our assembly before YAHWEH?” Under the terms of their solemn oath, whoever did not come before YAHWEH at Mizpah should be put to death. Even so, the Israelites had compassion for their brothers of the tribe of Benjamin and were grieved deeply over their loss. They lamented, “One of our tribes has been eliminated from Israel this day. How can we provide wives for the few survivors since we have sworn by YAHWEH that we will not give any of our daughters as wives for them?”
Judges 21:1-7 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. And they said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”