Judges 21:15–18

15 The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17 The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’

15 And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.”

15 The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made this gap among the tribes of Israel. 16 So the elders of the assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? 17 There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. 18 But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.”

15 And the people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. 18 However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ ”

15 The people of Israel felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the Lord had separated the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the Israelites said, “The women of Benjamin have been killed. Where can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are still alive? 17 These men must have children to continue their families so a tribe in Israel will not die out. 18 But we cannot allow our daughters to marry them, because we swore, ‘Anyone who gives a wife to a man of Benjamin is cursed.’

15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, How shall we do for wives for them that remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin? 17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for them that are escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not blotted out from Israel. 18 Howbeit we may not give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel had sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.

15 And the people repented them for Benjamin, because Jehovah had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 And the elders of the assembly said, What shall we do for wives for them that remain? for the women have been destroyed out of Benjamin. 17 And they said, There must be a possession for those of Benjamin that have escaped, that a tribe be not blotted out of Israel. 18 But we cannot give them wives of our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, Cursed be he that giveth a wife to the Benjaminites!

15 The congregation felt sorry for the people of Benjamin because the Lord had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 The leaders of the congregation asked, “What should we do to provide wives for the men who are left, since the women in Benjamin have been killed?” 

17 Some said, “Benjamin’s men who survived must be allowed to have families. No tribe of Israel should be wiped out. 18 However, we can’t give them any of our daughters as wives. The people of Israel have taken an oath that whoever gives wives to the men of Benjamin is under a curse.” 

15 The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18 But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.”

15 The people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16 So the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since there are no women left in Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give any of our daughters to them as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.”

15 And the people felt sorry for Benjamin because Yahweh weakened the tribes of Israel. 16 So the elders of the congregation said, “What should we do for the remaining ones for wives, since the women from Benjamin have been destroyed?” 17 And they said, “There must be a remnant for Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel. 18 But we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” (For the Israelites swore, saying, “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.”)

15 The people were very sad because of what had happened to the tribe of Benjamin. The Lord had left a gap in the tribes of Israel. They weren’t complete without Benjamin.

16 The elders of the community spoke up. They said, “All of the women of Benjamin have been wiped out. So how will we find wives for the men who are left? 17 The men of Benjamin who are still alive need to have children,” they said. “If they don’t, a tribe of Israel will be wiped out.

18 “But we can’t give them our daughters to be their wives. We Israelites have taken an oath and made a promise. We’ve said, ‘May anyone who gives a wife to a man from Benjamin be under the Lord’s curse.’

15 And the people were sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?”

17 They said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.

18 “But we cannot give them wives of our daughters.” For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, “Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin.”