Judges 21:2–7

2 The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3 “Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”

4 Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

5 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.

6 Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. 7 “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?”

2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 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?” 4 And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 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.” 6 And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 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?”

2 And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; 3 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? 4 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. 5 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. 6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 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?

2 Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly. 3 “O Lord, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!”

4 Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. 5 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.

6 The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. 7 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?”

2 The people went to the city of Bethel and sat before God until evening, crying loudly. 3 They said, “Lord, God of Israel, why has this terrible thing happened to us so that one tribe of Israel is missing today?”

4 Early the next day the people built an altar and put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on it.

5 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.

6 The Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the Benjaminites. They said, “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 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?”

2 And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore. 3 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? 4 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. 5 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. 6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day. 7 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?

2 And the people came to Bethel, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, 3 and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, why is it come to pass in Israel, that there should be this day one tribe lacking in Israel? 4 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. 5 And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation to Jehovah? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to Jehovah to Mizpah, saying, He shall certainly be put to death. 6 And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, To-day is one tribe extirpated from Israel. 7 What shall we do for wives for them that remain? since we have sworn by Jehovah that we will not give them of our daughters for wives.

2 The people went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. They cried very loudly, 3 “Lord God of Israel, why has this happened among us? Why should one tribe be missing today in Israel?” 

4 The next day the people got up early. They built an altar there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 The people asked, “Is there any family from Israel that did not take part in the assembly in the presence of the Lord?” They had taken a solemn oath that whoever had not come into the presence of the Lord at Mizpah must be put to death. 

6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their close relatives, the men of Benjamin. They said, “Today one tribe has been excluded from Israel. 7 What will we do to provide wives for the men who are left? We swore to the Lord that we would not let any of our daughters marry them.”

2 So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly, 3 and cried out, “Why, Lord God of Israel, has it occurred that one tribe is missing in Israel today?” 4 The next day the people got up early, built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.

6 But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel. 7 What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives.”

2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 They said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4 On the next day, the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being. 5 Then the Israelites said, “Who out of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For a solemn oath had been taken concerning whoever did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “That one shall be put to death.” 6 But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin their kin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 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 as wives?”

2 And the people of Bethel came and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted their voices and wept bitterly. 3 And they said, “Why, Yahweh, God of Israel, has it happened today in Israel that one tribe is lacking from Israel?” 4 On the next day the people rose early, and they built there an altar and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 And the Israelites said, “Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?” For a solemn oath was taken concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, “He will certainly be put to death.” 6 But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin, their relatives, and they said, “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel. 7 What will we do for them—for the ones being left over—for wives? For we have sworn by Yahweh not to give to them our daughters as wives.”

2 The people went to Bethel. They sat there until evening in the sight of God. They sobbed loudly and bitterly. 3 “Lord, you are the God of Israel,” they cried. “Why has this happened to Israel? Why is one tribe missing from Israel today?”

4 Early the next day the people built an altar. They brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings.

5 Then the people of Israel asked, “Has anyone failed to come here in the sight of the Lord? Is anyone missing from all of the tribes of Israel?”

The people had made a promise with an oath. They had said that anyone who failed to come to Mizpah in the sight of the Lord should certainly be put to death.

6 The people of Israel were very sad because of what had happened to the tribe of Benjamin. After all, they were their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel,” they said. 7 “How can we provide wives for the men who are left? We’ve made a promise with an oath in the sight of the Lord. We’ve promised not to give any of our daughters to be married to them.”

2 So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.

3 They said, “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?”

4 It came about the next day that the people arose early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

5 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.”

6 And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel today.

7 “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?”