Judges 19
1 And it comes to pass in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man, a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he takes a wife for himself, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah;
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.
2 and his concubine commits whoredom against him, and she goes from him to the house of her father, to Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there four months of days.
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.
3 And her husband rises and goes after her, to speak to her heart, to bring her back, and his young man [is] with him, and a couple of donkeys; and she brings him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman sees him, and rejoices to meet him.
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.
4 And his father-in-law keeps hold on him, father of the young woman, and he abides with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there.
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.
5 And it comes to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he rises to go, and the father of the young woman says to his son-in-law, “Support your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you go on.”
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.
6 And both of them sit, and eat and drink together, and the father of the young woman says to the man, “Please be willing and lodge all night, and let your heart be glad.”
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.
7 And the man rises to go, and his father-in-law presses on him, and he turns back and lodges there.
Still the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he turned back and lodged there.
8 And he rises early in the morning, on the fifth day, to go, and the father of the young woman says, “Please support your heart”; and they have tarried until the turning of the day, and both of them eat.
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.
9 And the man rises to go, he, and his concubine, and his young man, but his father-in-law, father of the young woman, says to him, “Now behold, the day has fallen toward evening, please lodge all night; behold, the declining of the day! Lodge here and let your heart be glad—and you have risen early tomorrow for your journey, and you have gone to your tent.”
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.
10 And the man has not been willing to lodge all night, and he rises, and goes, and comes in until [he is] opposite Jebus (it [is] Jerusalem), and a couple of saddled donkeys [are] with him; and his concubine [is] with him.
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.
11 They [are] near Jebus, and the day has greatly gone down, and the young man says to his lord, “Please come, and we turn aside to this city of the Jebusite and lodge in it.”
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.
12 And his lord says to him, “Let us not turn aside to the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel there, but we have passed over to Gibeah.”
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.
13 And he says to his young man, “Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah.”
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.
14 And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goes in on them near Gibeah, which is of Benjamin;
And they passed on and went forward; and the sun went down unto them by Gib'ah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
15 and they turn aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah, and he goes in and sits in a broad place of the city, and there is no man gathering them into the house to lodge.
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.
16 And behold, an old man has come from his work from the field in the evening, and the man [is] of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he [is] a sojourner in Gibeah, and the men of the place [are] Benjamites.
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.
17 And he lifts up his eyes, and sees the man, the traveler, in a broad place of the city, and the old man says, “To where do you go? And where do you come from?”
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?
18 And he says to him, “We are passing over from Beth-Lehem-Judah to the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim—I [am] from there, and I go to Beth-Lehem-Judah; and I am going to the house of YHWH, and there is no man gathering me into the house,
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.
19 and there is both straw and provender for our donkeys, and there is also bread and wine for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything.”
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.
20 And the old man says, “Peace to you; only, all your lack [is] on me, but do not lodge in the broad place.”
And the old man said, Peace be with thee; only let all thy wants lie upon me; at least lodge not in the street.
21 And he brings him into his house, and mixes [food] for the donkeys, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink.
So he brought him to his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and they ate and drank.
22 They are making their heart glad, and behold, men of the city, men—sons of worthlessness—have gone around the house, beating on the door, and they speak to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, and we know him.”
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.
23 And the man, the master of the house, goes out to them and says to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do evil after that this man has come into my house; do not do this folly;
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.
24 behold, my daughter, the virgin, and his concubine, please let me bring them out and you humble them, and do that which is good in your eyes to them, and do not do this foolish thing to this man.”
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.
25 And the men have not been willing to listen to him, and the man takes hold on his concubine and brings [her] out to them outside, and they know her and roll themselves on her all the night until the morning, and they send her away in the ascending of the dawn;
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.
26 and the woman comes in at the turning of the morning, and falls at the opening of the man’s house where her lord [is], until the light.
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.
27 And her lord rises in the morning, and opens the doors of the house, and goes out to go on his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, is fallen at the opening of the house, and her hands [are] on the threshold,
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.
28 and he says to her, “Rise, and we go”; but there is no answering, and he takes her on the donkey, and the man rises and goes to his place,
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.
29 and comes into his house, and takes the knife, and lays hold on his concubine, and cuts her in pieces to her bones—into twelve pieces, and sends her into all the border of Israel.
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.
30 And it has come to pass, everyone who sees has said, “There has not been—indeed, there has not been seen [anything] like this, from the day of the coming up of the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt until this day; set your [heart] on it, take counsel, and speak.”
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.
