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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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, 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 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. Then the woman’s father said to him, “Please stay another night. Relax/Rest and have a joyful time.”
7 The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again.
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 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, 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 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."
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 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 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 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."
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 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 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 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."
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 So they passed on and went their way; and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.
So they continued walking. When they came near Gibeah, where people from the tribe of Benjamin live, 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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."
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 to you. I will take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the square."
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 into his house, and fed the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 at daybreak the woman arrived and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until daylight.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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 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.”
