Judges 19
1 Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
At that time the Israeli people had no king. There was a man from the tribe of Levi who lived in a remote place in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim lives. He had previously taken as a wife a woman who was a slave. She was from Bethlehem, in the area where the tribe of Judah lives.
2 But she was unfaithful to him and left him to return to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. After she had been there four months,
But she started to sleep with other men also. Then she left him and returned to her father’s house in Bethlehem. She stayed there for four months.
3 her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, taking his servant and a pair of donkeys. So the girl brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
Then her husband took his servant and two donkeys and went to Bethlehem. He went to ask her to come back to live with him again. When he arrived at her father’s house, she invited him to come in. Her father was happy to see him.
4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay, so he remained with him three days, eating, drinking, and lodging there.
The woman’s father asked him to stay. So he stayed there for three days. During that time he ate and drank and slept there.
5 On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to depart, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and then you can go.”
On the fourth day, they all got up early in the morning. The man from the tribe of Levi was preparing to leave, but the woman’s father said to him, “Eat something before you go.”
6 So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.”
So the two men sat down to eat and drink together. Then the woman’s father said to him, “Please stay another night. Relax/Rest and have a joyful time.”
7 The man got up to depart, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.
The man from the tribe of Levi wanted to leave, but the woman’s father requested him to stay one more night. So he stayed again that night.
8 On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to depart, but the girl’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.
On the fifth day, the man got up early and prepared to leave. But the woman’s father said to him again, “Have something to eat. Wait until this afternoon, [and then leave].” So the two men ate together.
9 When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”
In the afternoon, when the man from the tribe of Levi and his slave wife and his servant got up to leave, the woman’s father said, “It will soon be dark. The day is almost over. Stay here tonight and have a good/joyful time. Tomorrow morning you can get up early and leave for your home.”
10 But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
But the man from the tribe of Levi did not want to stay for another night. He put saddles on his two donkeys, and started to go with his slave wife [and his servant] toward Jebus [city], which is [now named] Jerusalem.
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here.”
Late in the afternoon, they came near to Jebus. The servant said to his master, “We should stop in this city where the Jebus people-group live, and stay here tonight.”
12 But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”
But his master said, “No, it would not be good for us to stay here where foreign people live. There are no Israeli people here. We will go on to Gibeah [city].”
13 He continued, “Come, let us try to reach one of these towns to spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
He said to his servant, “Let’s go. It is not far to Gibeah. We can go there, or we can go a bit further to Ramah. We can stay in one of those two cities tonight.”
14 So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.
So they continued walking. When they came near Gibeah, where people from the tribe of Benjamin live, the sun was setting.
15 They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the night.
They stopped to stay there that night. They went to the public square of that city and sat down. But no one [who passed by] invited them to stay in their house for that night.
16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field.
Finally, in the evening, an old man came by. He had been working in the fields. He was from the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim, but at that time he was living in Gibeah.
17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?”
He realized that the man from the tribe of Levi was only traveling and did not have a home in that city. So he asked the man, “Where have you come from? And where are you going?”
18 The Levite replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the LORD; but no one has taken me into his home,
He replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem to my home in the hilly area where people of the tribe of Ephraim live. I went from there to Bethlehem, but now we are going to [Shiloh] where Yahweh’s Sacred tent (OR, my house) is. No one here has invited us to stay in their house tonight.
19 even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”
We have straw and food for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the young woman and my servant. We do not need anything else.”
20 “Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.”
The old man said, “I wish that things will go well for you, but I would like to provide what you need. Do not stay here in the square tonight.”
21 So he brought him to his house and fed his donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank.
Then the old man took them to his house. He gave food to the donkeys. He [gave water to the man and the woman and the servant to] wash their feet. And he gave them something to eat and drink.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”
While they were having a good/joyful time together, some wicked men from that city surrounded the house and started to bang on the door. They shouted to the old man, “Bring out to us the man who has come to your house. We want to have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
The old man went outside and said to them, “Friends, I will not do that. That would be a very evil thing. This man is a guest in my house. You should not do such a terrible/disgraceful/shameful thing!
24 Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.”
Look, my daughter is here. She is [still] a virgin. And this man’s slave wife is here. I will bring them out to you now. You may do to them whatever you wish, but do not do such a terrible/disgraceful/shameful thing to this young man!”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
But the men did not pay attention to what he said. So the man from the tribe of Levi took his slave wife and sent her to them, outside the house. They raped [EUP] her and abused her all night. Then at dawn, they allowed her to go.
26 Early that morning, the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, collapsed at the doorway, and lay there until it was light.
She returned to the old man’s house, where her husband was staying, but she fell down at the doorway and lay there all night.
27 In the morning, when her master got up and opened the doors of the house to go out on his journey, there was his concubine, collapsed in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
In the morning, when the man from the tribe of Levi got up, he went outside of the house to continue his journey. He saw his slave wife lying there at the doorway of the house. Her hands were on the doorsill.
28 “Get up,” he told her. “Let us go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
He said to her, “Get up! Let’s go!” But she did not answer, [because she had died]. He put her body on the donkey and traveled to his home.
29 When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.
When he arrived home, he took a knife and cut the body of the slave woman into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each area of Israel, [along with a message telling what had happened].
30 And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”
Everyone who saw a piece of the body and the message said, “Nothing like this has ever happened before. Not since our ancestors left Egypt [have we heard of such a terrible thing]. We need to think carefully about it. Someone should decide what we should do.”
