Judges 21:1

600 Brides for 600 Brothers

21:1 The Israelites had taken an oath in Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will allow his daughter to marry a Benjaminite.”

Judges 21:5

21:5 The Israelites asked, “Who from all the Israelite tribes has not assembled before the Lord?” They had made a solemn oath that whoever did not assemble before the Lord at Mizpah must certainly be executed. ¹ 

Proverbs 21:3

21:3 To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable ²  to the Lord than sacrifice. ³ 

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ⁴ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ⁵ 

the place where you will eventually go. ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “A great oath there was concerning the one who did not go up before the Lord at Mizpah, saying, ‘He must surely be put to death.’”

² tn The Niphal participle בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”) means “choice to the Lord” or “chosen of the Lord,” meaning “acceptable to the Lord”; cf. TEV “pleases the Lord more.”

³ sn The Lord prefers righteousness above religious service (e.g., Prov 15:8; 21:29; 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:11-17). This is not a rejection of ritual worship; rather, religious acts are without value apart from righteous living.

⁴ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

⁵ tn Heb “Sheol.”

⁶ tn Or “where you are about to go.”