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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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, 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 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. Then the woman’s father said to him, “Please stay another night. Relax/Rest and have a joyful time.”
7 Still the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he turned back and lodged there.
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 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, 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 And they passed on and went forward; and the sun went down unto them by Gib'ah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
So they continued walking. When they came near Gibeah, where people from the tribe of Benjamin live, 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 And the old man said, Peace be with thee; only let all thy wants lie upon me; at least lodge not in the street.
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 gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and they 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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 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.”
