Judges 19
1 It happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a secondary wife from Bethlehem 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 His secondary wife was angry with him and went away from him to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah, and was there about 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 Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young woman 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 His father-in-law, the young woman's father, welcomed him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.
Her father pressed him to stay with them, so he remained for three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there.
5 It happened on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with a piece of bread, and after that you may go."
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 So they sat down, ate, and drank, both of them together. Then the young woman's father said to the man, "Please agree to stay the night, and enjoy yourself."
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 The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again.
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 He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young woman's father said, "Please refresh yourself and stay until the day declines." And the two of them ate and drank.
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 When the man rose up with his secondary wife and his servant to leave, his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, "Look, now the day draws toward evening, please stay the night. Look, the day grows to an end, stay here, and enjoy yourself; and tomorrow you can get up early for your journey so that you may go home."
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 wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his secondary wife and his servant were 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 almost gone, and the servant said to his master, "Please come and let us stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night 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 His master said to him, "We won't go into the city of a foreigner that is not of the children of Israel, but we will pass over to Gibeah."
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 He said to his servant, "Come and let us try to reach one of those places and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah."
Then he told his servant, “Come on, let's try and get to Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night somewhere there.”
14 So they passed on and went their way; and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.
So they carried on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just as the sun was setting.
15 They turned that way to go in to spend the night in Gibeah. And he went in and they sat down in the street of the city; for there was no one who would take them into their house to spend the night.
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 Look, there came an old man from his work out in the field at evening. Now the man was of the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah; 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 He lifted up his eyes, and saw the traveler in the street of the city. And the old man said, "Where are you going, and where did you come from?"
He looked over and noticed the traveler in the square and asked, “Where are you going and where have you come from?”
18 He said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. And I am going to my home, and there is no one who will take me into his home.
“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 feed for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. There is no lack of anything."
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 to you. I will take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the square."
“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 into his house, and fed the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and 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 enjoying themselves, look, the men of the city, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house, beating at the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with 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 The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, "No, my brothers, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house. Do not do this disgraceful 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 Look, here is my virgin daughter and his secondary wife. I will bring them out now. Ravish them and do with them what seems good to you; but do not do any such a disgraceful thing to this man."
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 wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold of his secondary wife, and brought her out to them. And they raped her and abused her all night until the morning, and when the day began to dawn they let her go.
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 at daybreak the woman arrived and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until daylight.
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 Her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and look, the woman his secondary wife was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on 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 to her, "Get up, and let us go." But there was no answer, for she was dead. So he placed her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went to his home.
“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 When he had come into his house, he took a knife, and took hold of his secondary wife and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout 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 was so, that all who saw it said, "Nothing like this has been done or seen since the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day." And he commanded the men whom he sent, saying, "This is what you will say to all the men of Israel, 'Has anything like this happened since the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day? Consider it, take counsel, 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!”
