Judges 19
1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the lower edge of the mountain of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine out of Beth-lechem-judah.
At that time Israel didn't have a king. A Levite who was living in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim married a concubine-wife from Bethlehem in Judah.
2 And his concubine became faithless unto him, and she went away from him unto her father's house to Beth-lechem-judah, and was there one year and four months.
But she was unfaithful to him and left him to return to her father's house in Bethlehem. She was there for four months.
3 And then her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, to bring her back; and he had his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
Then her husband went after her, to talk kindly with her and bring her back home. With him went his servant and two donkeys. She took him to her father's house and when her father met him, he gladly welcomed him.
4 And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, detained him; and he abode with him three days: and they ate and drank, and lodged there.
Her father pressed him to stay with them, so he remained for three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there.
5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart; but the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward can ye go your way.
On the fourth day he and his concubine got up early in the morning and prepared to leave, but her father said to his son-in-law, “You'll feel better if you have something to eat before you go.”
6 And they sat down, and both of them ate together and drank; and the damsel's father said unto the man, Do consent, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry.
So the two men sat down to eat and drink together. The father said to his son-in law, “Please agree to spend another night here, and you can enjoy yourself!”
7 Still the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he turned back and lodged there.
The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law pressed him to stay, so in the end he spent the night there.
8 And when he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, the damsel's father said, Comfort thy heart, I pray thee, and tarry until the decline of the day: and both of them did eat.
On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave. But his father-in-law said, “Eat before you go, then leave later this afternoon.” So they had a meal together.
9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, tarry all night, I pray you: behold, it is the resting time of day, lodge here, and let thy heart be merry; and you may get early tomorrow on your way, and go then to thy tent.
When he got up to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law told him, “Look it's late—it's already evening. Spend the night here. The day's almost over. Stay here the night and enjoy yourself, then tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way home.”
10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and went away, and came as far as opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and he had with him two saddled asses, and his concubine also was with him.
But the man didn't want to spend another night, so he got up and left. He headed towards the town of Jebus (now called Jerusalem) with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in unto this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
As they approached Jebus the day was over, the servant said to his master, “Sir, why don't we stop here at this Jebusite town for the night?”
12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn into one of the cities of the stranger, that are not belonging to the children of Israel; but we will pass on as far as Gib'ah.
But his master replied, “No, we're not going to stop in this town where only foreigners live and no Israelites. We'll continue on to Gibeah.”
13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places; and let us lodge all night in Gib'ah, or in Ramah.
Then he told his servant, “Come on, let's try and get to Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night somewhere there.”
14 And they passed on and went forward; and the sun went down unto them by Gib'ah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
So they carried on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just as the sun was setting.
15 And they turned aside thither, to go in to lodge in Gib'ah; and when he went in, he sat down in the street of the city; for there was no man that brought them into his house to lodge.
They stopped in Gibeah to spend the night, and sat down in the town's main square, but no one invited them to come and stay.
16 And, behold, an old man was coming from his work out of the field at evening, and this man was from the mountain of Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gib'ah; but the men of the place were Benjamites.
But later that evening an old man came by, returning from working in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but was now living in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.
17 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city: and then said the old man, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?
He looked over and noticed the traveler in the square and asked, “Where are you going and where have you come from?”
18 And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lechem-judah toward the lower edge of the mountain of Ephraim; from there am I, and I went as far as Beth-lechem-judah; but I am going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that bringeth me into his house.
“We've come from Bethlehem in Judah and we're going to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim,” the man replied. “I'm from there and I went to Bethlehem, and now I'm going to the Lord's Temple. No one here has invited me to stay.
19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there are also bread and wine for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man who is with thy servants; there is no want of any thing.
There's straw and food for our donkeys, and we your servants have bread and wine—enough for me, the woman, and my servant. We have all we need.”
20 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; only let all thy wants lie upon me; at least lodge not in the street.
“You are welcome to stay with me,” the man replied. “I can let you have everything you need. Just don't spend the night here in the square.”
21 So he brought him to his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and they ate and drank.
He took him home and fed the donkeys. The travelers washed their feet and then started to eat and drink.
22 As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless people, beset the house round about, knocking at the door; and they said to the master of the house, the old man, thus, Bring forth the man that in come to thy house, that we may know him.
While they were enjoying themselves, some depraved men from the town came and surrounded the house, and banged on the door, shouting to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to stay in your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, No, my brethren, I pray you, act not wickedly; since this man is once come into my house, do not this scandalous thing.
The man who owned the house went outside and told them, “My brothers, don't act in such an evil way! This man is a guest in my house. Don't do something so disgusting!
24 Behold, here is my daughter a virgin, and his concubine; let me bring them out now, and humble ye them, and do to them what seemeth good in your eyes; but unto this man do not this scandalous thing.
Look, here's my virgin daughter and the man's concubine. Let me bring them out and you can rape them and do whatever you want to them. But don't do something so disgusting to this man.”
25 But the men would not hearken to him; so the man took hold of his concubine, and brought her forth unto them into the street; and they knew her, and ill-used her all the night until the morning; and they let her go when the day began to dawn.
But the men refused to listen, so the man grabbed his concubine and threw her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and only discarded her at dawn.
26 Then came the woman [home] in the early part of the morning, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, [and lay] till it was light.
As night turned into day she returned to the house where her master was staying and collapsed in front of the door as it got light.
27 And when her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go on his way: behold, the woman, his concubine, was lying at the door of the house, with her hands upon the threshold.
Her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house. He went out to continue his journey and there was his concubine, stretched out in the doorway of the house, with her hands holding onto the doorstep.
28 And he said unto her, Rise up, and let us be going; but no one answered. Then he took her upon the ass, and the man rose up, and went unto his place.
“Get up, let's go,” he told her, but there was no answer. Then the man lifted her onto his donkey and went home.
29 And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, according to her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her about in all the territory of Israel.
When he got home he took a knife, and holding onto his concubine, cut her up, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent these pieces of her to every part of Israel.
30 And it happened, that whoever saw it said, There hath no such deed been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day: reflect well on it, give advice, and speak.
Everyone who saw her said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen before, from the time the Israelites left Egypt up until now. You should think about what happened to her! Decide what to do! Speak up!”
