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;
In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a man, a Levite, living for a while in the most remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. He took for himself a woman, a concubine from Bethlehem in 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.
But his concubine was unfaithful to him; she left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah. She stayed there for 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.
Then her husband got up and went after her in order to persuade her to come back. His servant was with him, and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house. When the girl's father saw him, he was glad.
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.
His father-in-law, the girl's father, persuaded him to stay for three days. They ate and drank, and they spent the night 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.”
On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a bit of bread, then you may go.”
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.”
So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Then the girl's father said, “Please be willing to spend the night and have a good time.”
7 And the man rises to go, and his father-in-law presses on him, and he turns back and lodges there.
When the Levite got up to leave, the father of the young woman urged him to stay, so he changed his plan and spent the night there again.
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.
On the fifth day he woke up early to leave, but the girl's father said, “Strengthen yourself, and wait until the afternoon.” So the two of them had a meal.
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.”
When the Levite and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father said to him, “See, now the day is advancing toward evening. Please stay another night, and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and go back home.”
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 Levite was not willing to spend the night. He got up and left. He went toward Jebus (that is Jerusalem). He had a pair of saddled donkeys—and his concubine 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 near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come, let us turn aside to the city of the Jebusites and spend the night 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.”
His master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who do not belong to the people of Israel. We will go on to Gibeah.”
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.”
The Levite said to his young man, “Come, let us go to one of those other places, and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
14 And they pass over, and go on, and the sun goes in on them near Gibeah, which is of Benjamin;
So they went on, and the sun set as they came near to Gibeah, in the territory of 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.
They turned aside there to spend the night in Gibeah. They went and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into his house for the night.
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.
But then an old man was coming from his work in the field that evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying for a while in Gibeah. But the men living in that 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?”
He raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the city square. The old man said, “Where are you going? Where are you coming from?”
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,
The Levite said to him, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, which is where I come from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of Yahweh, but there is no one who will take 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.”
We have straw and feed for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine for me and your female servant here, and for this young man with your servants. We lack nothing.”
20 And the old man says, “Peace to you; only, all your lack [is] on me, but do not lodge in the broad place.”
The old man greeted them, “Peace be with you! I will take care of all your needs. Only do not spend the night in the square.”
21 And he brings him into his house, and mixes [food] for the donkeys, and they wash their feet, and eat and drink.
So the man brought the Levite into his house and gave feed to the donkeys. They washed their feet and 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.”
While they were making their hearts glad, some men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house, beating on the door. They spoke to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so we can have sex with 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;
The man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do this evil thing! Since this man is a guest in my house, do not do this wicked 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.”
See, my virgin daughter and his concubine are here. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them whatever you like. But do not do such a wicked thing to this man!”
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 listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them. They raped her and abused her all throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
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.
At dawn the woman came and she fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, and she lay there until 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,
Her master rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way. He could see his concubine lying there at the door, with her hands on 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,
The Levite said to her, “Get up. Let us go.” But there was no answer. He put her on the donkey, and the man set out for home.
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.
When the Levite came to his house, he took a knife, and he took hold of his concubine, and cut her up, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent the pieces everywhere throughout 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.”
All who saw this said, “Such a thing has never been done or seen from the day the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this present day. Think about it! Give us advice! Tell us what to do!”
