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Friday, August 15th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
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Read the Bible

Green's Literal Translation

Judges 21:2

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.

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,
Easy-to-Read Version
The Israelites went to the city of Bethel. There they sat before God until evening. They cried loudly as they sat there.
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:
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 And the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, Not one of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife. 2 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. 3 And they said, O Jehovah, God of Israel, Why has this happened in Israel, to be lacking one tribe today from Israel? 4 And it happened on the next day, the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the sons of Israel said, Who is he that did not come up in the assembly out of all the tribes of Israel to Jehovah? For a great oath had been undertaken concerning him that did not comeup to Jehovah to Mizpeh saying, Dying he shall die. 6 And the sons of Israel repented concerning their brother Benjamin. And they said, One tribe from Israel has been cut off today. 7 What shall we do for them, for those who are left, for wives? For we surely have sworn by Jehovah not to give them of our daughters for wives. 8 And they said, What one out of the tribes of Israel did not come up to Jehovah to Mizpeh? And, behold, no one had come into the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. 9 And the people numbered themselves. And, behold, there was not a man of those living in Jabesh-gilead. 10 And the assembly sent twelve thousand men there of the mighty sons, and commanded them, saying, Go, and you shall strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the mouth of the sword, even the women and the little ones.

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
And God said, Your wife Sarah truly shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I have established My covenant with him for a perpetual covenant with his seed after him.
Genesis 17:21
And I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.
Genesis 18:10
And He said, Returning I will return to you at the time of life; and, Behold! A son shall be to your wife Sarah. And Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, and it was behind Him.
Genesis 18:14
Is anything too difficult for Jehovah? At the appointed time I will return to you, at the time of life, and there will be a son to Sarah.
Genesis 21:16
And she went and sat down opposite him, about a bow shot away. For she said, Let me not see the death of the boy. And she sat opposite and raised her voice and wept.
Genesis 21:17
And God heard the voice of the young boy. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of the heavens. And He said to her, What ails you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy, there where he is .
Genesis 21:24
And Abraham said, I will swear.
Genesis 21:25
And Abraham reproved Abimelech on account of a well of water which the slaves of Abimelech had seized.
Luke 1:36
And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth! She also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;
Acts 7:8
And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision; and so he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.

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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