Musoolu Benjamini lasiloo kewolu ye
1 Banisirayilankoolu kalita Misipa le ko, “Ntolu kono, moo-wo-moo maŋ ñaŋ na a dimmusoo futundi la Benjamini lasiloo kewo ye.” 2 Bituŋ ì naata Beteli, ì siita Alla ñaatiliŋo la jee fo wulaaroo. Ì kumboota kendeke ka wuuri santo. 3 Ì kumata ko, “Hee Yaawe* Banisirayila la Alla, muŋ ne ye a tinna ñiŋ keta bii fo Banisirayila lasili kiliŋ be manki la?”
4 Wo saamoo, ì wulita juuna, ì ye sadaabodulaa* loo jee. Bituŋ ì ye jani sadaalu* bo jee, aniŋ kayira sabatindiraŋ sadaalu. 5 Bituŋ Banisirayilankoolu kumata ko, “Banisirayila lasiloolu bee kono, lasili jumaa le maŋ naa ka maabee ñiŋ beŋo to, Yaawe ñaatiliŋo la?” Kaatu kaloo le keta ñiŋ kuwo to ko, moo-wo-moo maŋ naa Yaawe ñaatiliŋo la Misipa, wo maarii ñanta le ka faa. 6 Bari Banisirayilankoolu balafaata ì baadiŋ Benjamini lasiloo moolu ye le ko, “M̀ foota lasili kiliŋ na Banisirayila kono bii tiloo la. 7 Ñiŋ moolu mennu tuta jee, m̀ be wolu la musu kuwo ke la ñaadii le? Baawo ŋà n kali Yaawe ye le ko, ǹ te ǹ dimmusoolu dii la ka ì futuu.”
8 Wo to le ì ko, “Fo moo le sotota baŋ ka bo Banisirayila lasiloolu kono, meŋ maŋ naa Yaawe ñaatiliŋo la Misipa?” Ì naata a je ko, ka bo Yabesi saatewo to Kileyadi tundoo kaŋ, moo maŋ soto jee, meŋ maabeeta ñiŋ beŋo to. 9 Kabiriŋ kumandiroo keta moolu la, Yabesi-Kileyadi saatee moolu, hani kiliŋ ne maŋ tara jee. 10 Bituŋ ñiŋ bendulaa moolu ye kelediŋ moo wuli taŋ niŋ fula kii jee, ì ye ì yaamari ñiŋ ne la ko, “Ali taa, ali ye Yabesi-Kileyadi saatee moolu faa niŋ hawusaroo* la, musoolu niŋ dindiŋolu bee daa bulariŋo jee. 11 Ali ñanta ñiŋ ne ke la: Ali si kee-wo-kee kasaara, aniŋ musu-wo-musu, meŋ nene niŋ kewo kafuta.” 12 Yabesi-Kileyadi musoolu kono, ì ye a tara musu keme naani le be jee, mennu maŋ keekuwo loŋ. Bituŋ ì ye ì samba naŋ daakaa to, Silo saatewo to, meŋ be Kanaani bankoo kaŋ.
13 Bituŋ ñiŋ bennaalu ye kumoo kii Benjamini lasiloo moolu ye, mennu be Rimmoni bere baa to, ka kayiroo sabatindi. 14 Benjamini lasiloo moolu muruta naŋ. Bituŋ Banisirayilankoolu ye sunkutoolu ñinnu dii ì la, ì maŋ mennu faa ka bo Yabesi-Kileyadi musoolu kono. Bari ì maŋ ì sii.
15 Ñiŋ moolu balafaata Benjamini lasiloo moolu ye le, kaatu Yaawe ye ì bondi Banisirayila lasiloolu kono le. 16 Ñiŋ bendulaa alifaalu ko, “Baawo Benjamini lasiloo musoolu kasaarata le, m̀ be muŋ ne ke la saayiŋ, fo ñiŋ kewolu mennu tuta, si musoolu soto?” 17 Bituŋ ì ko, “Keetaalaalu ñanta soto la Benjamini lasiloo kewolu ye le, mennu baluuta. Ñiŋ kamma, ì lasiloo kana buruka Banisirayila. 18 Hani saayiŋ, ǹ te ǹ dimmusoolu dii noo la ì la ka ì futuu.” Kaatu Banisirayilankoolu ye kaloo le ke ko, “Dankoo be moo ye, meŋ ye a dimmusoo dii Benjamini lasiloo kewo la.”
19 Wo to le ì ko, “A juubee, Yaawe la saŋ-wo-saŋ juuraloo be ke la Silo saatewo to.” Ñiŋ saatewo be Beteli maraa karoo le la, sila baa tilibo karoo la, meŋ ka bo Beteli ka taa fo Sekemu, aniŋ Lebona bulubaa karoo la. 20 Bituŋ ì ye kaŋo dii Benjamini lasiloo kewolu la, ì ko ì ye ko, “Ali taa, ali ye biti wayini* yiri kankaŋolu kono. 21 Ali ye tara koroosiroo la. Niŋ Silo saatee sunkutoolu naata doŋo la dondulaalu to, ali ye finti naŋ wayini yiri kankaŋolu kono. Bituŋ ali bee kiliŋ-kiliŋ naa ye musu kiliŋ taa ali faŋolu ye, ali niŋ a ye taa Benjamini tundoo kaŋ. 22 Niŋ ì faañolu waraŋ ì baarinkewolu naata ka diyaamu a kuwo la, m̀ be a fo la ì ye le ko, ‘Ali balafaa soto! Ali ì bula ì ye taa ntolu la kuwo kamma. Kaatu ǹ na keloo waatoo la Yabesi, m̀ maŋ musoo muta noo ñiŋ moo bee ye, ka bo Yabesi musoolu kono. Ali fanaa maŋ boyi, kaatu ali faŋolu maŋ ñiŋ sunkutoolu dii ì la, ali ŋaniyoo la.’ ” 23 Benjamini lasiloo moolu naata wo le ke, ì bee kiliŋ-kiliŋ naa ye musoo suuñaatoo taa ka bo donnaalu kono. Bituŋ ì muruta ì la tundoo kaŋ. Ì ye jee saatewolu lookuu, ì sabatita ì kono. 24 Wo waatoo la, Banisirayila moo koteŋolu fanaalu janjanta le, ì bee kiliŋ-kiliŋ naa muruta ì la tundoolu kaŋ, ì la kaabiiloolu, aniŋ ì la lasiloolu.
25 Wo tiloolu la, mansa maŋ tara Banisirayila kono. Meŋ beteyaata moo-wo-moo ñaa koto, a ka wo le ke.
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.
