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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Judges 21:2

The Israelites went to the city of Bethel. There they sat before God until evening. They cried loudly as they sat there.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Beth-El;   Church;   Nation;   Rashness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Dead, the;   Grief;   Joy-Sorrow;   Mourning;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Benjamin, Tribe of;   Evening, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Gibeah;   Mizpah;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Bethel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Judges, Book of;   Sore;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Benjamin;   Jabesh, Jabesh-Gilead;   Marriage;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Gibeah;   Jotham;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Beth'el;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Intercession;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So the people went to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. They wept loudly and bitterly,
Hebrew Names Version
The people came to Beit-El, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
King James Version
And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore;
Lexham English Bible
And the people of Bethel came and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted their voices and wept bitterly.
English Standard Version
And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.
New Century Version
The people went to the city of Bethel and sat before God until evening, crying loudly.
New English Translation
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, weeping loudly and uncontrollably.
Amplified Bible
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.
New American Standard Bible
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and raised their voices and wept profusely.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the people came vnto ye house of God and abode there till euen before God, and lift vp their voyces, and wept with great lamentation,
Legacy Standard Bible
En toe die manskappe in Bet-el kom, het hulle daar gebly tot die aand toe voor die aangesig van God en hulle stem verhef en geween met 'n groot geween
Contemporary English Version
After the war with Benjamin, the Israelites went to the place of worship at Bethel and sat there until sunset. They cried loudly and bitterly
Complete Jewish Bible
The people came to Beit-El and stayed there before God till evening crying out and weeping.
Darby Translation
And the people came to Bethel, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,
George Lamsa Translation
And the people came to Beth-el, and abode there till evening before God, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly;
Good News Translation
So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned:
Literal Translation
And the people came to Bethel, and sat there before God until the evening. And they lifted up their voices and wept a great weeping.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the people came to the house of God (in Silo) & abode there before God vntill the euenynge, and lifte vp their voyce, and wepte sore,
American Standard Version
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
Bible in Basic English
And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till euen, before God, & lift vp their voyces, and wept sore,
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
King James Version (1611)
And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till euen before God, and lift vp their voices, and wept sore:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the people came to Baethel, and sat there until evening before God: and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping;
English Revised Version
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
Berean Standard Bible
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, lifting up their voices and weeping bitterly.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And `alle camen to the hows of God in Silo, and thei saten in the `siyt of hym `til to euentid, and thei reisiden the vois, and bigunnen to wepe with greet yellyng,
Young's Literal Translation
And the people come in to Beth-El, and sit there till the evening before God, and lift up their voice, and weep -- a great weeping,
Update Bible Version
And the people came to Beth-el, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept intensely.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept bitterly;
World English Bible
The people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore.
New King James Version
Then the people came to the house of God, [fn] and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,
New Living Translation
Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly.
New Life Bible
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening. In loud voices they cried,
New Revised Standard
And the people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So then the people came to Bethel, and abode there, until the evening, before God, - and lifted up their voice, and wept bitterly,
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they all came to the house of God in Silo, and sitting before him till the evening, lifted up their voices, and began to lament and weep, saying:
Revised Standard Version
And the people came to Bethel, and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.
THE MESSAGE
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?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the people came to Bethel and sat there before God until evening, and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.

Contextual Overview

1 At Mizpah, the men of Israel made a promise. This was their promise: "Not one of us will let his daughter marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin." 2 The Israelites went to the city of Bethel. There they sat before God until evening. They cried loudly as they sat there. 3 They said to God, " Lord , you are the God of the Israelites. Why has this terrible thing happened to us? Why has one tribe of the Israelites been taken away?" 4 Early the next day, the Israelites built an altar. They put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on that altar. 5 Then the Israelites said, "Are there any tribes of Israel who did not come here to meet with us before the Lord ?" They asked this question because they had made a serious promise. They had promised that anyone who did not come together with the other tribes at the city of Mizpah would be killed. 6 Then the Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the people of Benjamin. They said, "Today, one tribe has been separated from Israel. 7 We made a promise with an oath before the Lord . We promised not to allow our daughters to marry a man from Benjamin. How can we make sure that the men of Benjamin will have wives?" 8 Then the Israelites asked, "Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come here to Mizpah? We have come together before the Lord . Surely one family was not here!" Then they found that no one from the city of Jabesh Gilead had met together with the other Israelites. 9 The Israelites counted everyone to see who was there and who was not. They found that no one from Jabesh Gilead was there. 10 So the Israelites sent 12,000 soldiers to the city of Jabesh Gilead. They told the soldiers, "Go to Jabesh Gilead, and use your swords to kill everyone who lives there, even the women and children.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the house: Judges 21:12, Judges 20:18, Judges 20:23, Judges 20:26, Joshua 18:1

lifted: Judges 2:4, Genesis 27:38, 1 Samuel 30:4

Reciprocal: Numbers 11:18 - ye have wept Joshua 7:6 - until the eventide 1 Samuel 1:10 - wept sore 1 Samuel 11:4 - lifted up

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
God said, "No, I said that your wife Sarah will have a son. You will name him Isaac. I will make my agreement with him that will continue forever with all his descendants.
Genesis 17:21
But I will make my agreement with Isaac, the son who Sarah will have. He will be born at this same time next year."
Genesis 18:10
Then one of them said, "I will come again in the spring. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening in the tent and heard these things.
Genesis 18:14
But is anything too hard for the Lord ? I will come again in the spring, just as I said I would, and your wife Sarah will have a son."
Genesis 21:16
Then she walked a short distance away and sat down. She thought her son would die because there was no water. She did not want to watch him die. She sat there and began to cry.
Genesis 21:17
God heard the boy crying, and God's angel called to Hagar from heaven. He said, "What is wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid! God has heard the boy crying there.
Genesis 21:24
And Abraham said, "I promise to treat you the same way you have treated me."
Genesis 21:25
Then Abraham complained to Abimelech because Abimelech's servants had captured a well of water.
Luke 1:36
And here's something else: Your relative Elizabeth is pregnant. She is very old, but she is going to have a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant now for six months.
Acts 7:8
"God made an agreement with Abraham; the sign for this agreement was circumcision. And so when Abraham had a son, he circumcised him when he was eight days old. His son's name was Isaac. Isaac also circumcised his son Jacob. And Jacob did the same for his sons, who became the twelve great ancestors of our people.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the people came to the house of God,.... Not to the city Bethel, as the Targum, Septuagint, and other versions, but to Shiloh, where were the tabernacle and ark; and this is to be understood of the army after they had utterly destroyed the Benjaminites: hence we read of the camp in Shiloh, Judges 21:12, here they came not so much to rejoice, and be glad, and to return thanks for the victory they had at last obtained, as to lament the unhappy case of the tribe of Benjamin, and to have counsel and advice, and consider of ways and means to repair their loss:

and abode there till even before God; fasting and praying, instead of feasting and rejoicing:

and lifted up their voices, and wept sore; not so much, or at least not only for the 40,000 Israelites that were slain, but for the tribe of Benjamin, in danger of being lost, as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To the house of God - It should be, “to Bethel.” See Judges 20:18.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 21:2. The people came to the house of God — Literally, the people came בית־אל to Bethel; this is considered as the name of a place by the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Septuagint.

And wept sore — Their revenge was satisfied, and now reflection brings them to contrition for what they had done.


 
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