Judges 19
1 A man was a dekene dwellinge in the side of the hil of Effraym, which dekene took a wijf of Bethleem of Juda.
Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was living in the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he got for himself a servant-wife from Beth-lehem-judah.
2 And sche lefte hym, and turnede ayen in to the hows of hir fadir in Bethleem, and sche dwellide at hym foure monethis.
And his servant-wife was angry with him, and went away from him to her father's house at Beth-lehem-judah, and was there for four months.
3 And hir hosebonde suede hir, and wolde be recounselid to hir, and speke faire, and lede hir ayen with him; and he hadde in cumpany a child, and tweyne assis. And sche resseyuede hym, and brouyte him in to `the hows of hir fadir; and whanne hise wyues fadir hadde herd this, and `hadde seyn hym, he ran gladli to hym, and kisside the man.
Then her husband got up and went after her, with the purpose of talking kindly to her, and taking her back with him; he had with him his young man and two asses: and she took him into her father's house, and her father, when he saw him, came forward to him with joy.
4 And the hosebonde of the douytir dwellide in `the hows of his wyues fadir in three daies, and eet and drank hoomli with hym.
And his father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there for three days; and they had food and drink and took their rest there.
5 Sotheli in the fourthe dai he roos bi nyyt, and wolde go forth; whom `the fadir of his wijf helde, and seide to hym, Taaste thou first a litil of breed, and coumforte thi stomak, and so thou schalt go forth.
Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning and he made ready to go away; but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, Take a little food to keep up your strength, and then go on your way.
6 And thei saten togidere, and eeten, and drunkun. And the fadir of the damysele seide to `the hosebonde of his douyter, Y beseche thee, that thou dwelle here to dai, and that we be glad togidere.
So seating themselves they had food and drink, the two of them together; and the girl's father said to the man, If it is your pleasure, take your rest here tonight, and let your heart be glad.
7 And he roos, and bigan to wilne to go; and neuertheles `the fadir of his wijf helde hym mekeli, and made to dwelle at hym.
And the man got up to go away, but his father-in-law would not let him go, so he took his rest there again for the night.
8 Forsothe whanne the morewtid was maad, the dekene made redi weie; to whom `the fadir of his wijf seide eft, Y biseche, that thow take a litil of mete, and make thee strong til the dai encreesse, and aftirward go forth. Therfor thei eten togidere.
Then early on the morning of the fifth day he got up to go away; but the girl's father said, Keep up your strength; so the two of them had a meal, and the man and his woman and his servant did not go till after the middle of the day.
9 And the yong man roos to go with his wijf and child; to whom the fadir of his wijf spak eft, Biholde thou, that the dai is `lowere to the goynge doun, and it neiyeth to euentid; dwelle thou at me also to dai, and lede a glad dai, and to morewe thou schalt go forth, that thou go in to thin hows.
And when they got up to go away, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, Now evening is coming on, so do not go tonight; see, the day is almost gone; take your rest here and let your heart be glad, and tomorrow early, go on your way back to your house.
10 The `hosebonde of the douytir nolde assente to hise wordis; but he yede forth anoon, and cam ayens Jebus, which bi another name is clepid Jerusalem; and he ledde with hym twei assis chargid, and the wijf.
But the man would not be kept there that night, and he got up and went away and came opposite to Jebus (which is Jerusalem); and he had with him the two asses, ready for travelling, and his woman.
11 And now thei weren bisidis Jebus, and the day was chaungid in to nyyt. And the child seide to his lord, Come thou, Y biseche, bowe we to the citee of Jebus, and dwelle we therynne.
When they got near Jebus the day was far gone; and the servant said to his master, Now let us go from our road into this town of the Jebusites and take our night's rest there.
12 To whom the lord answeride, Y schal not entre in to the citee of an alien folc, which is not of the sones of Israel, but Y schal passe `til to Gabaa;
But his master said to him, We will not go out of our way into a strange town, whose people are not of the children of Israel; but we will go on to Gibeah.
13 and whanne Y schal come thidur, we schulen dwelle therynne, `ether certis in the citee of Rama.
And he said to his servant, Come, let us go on to one of these places, stopping for the night in Gibeah or Ramah.
14 Therfor thei passiden Jebus, and token the weie bigunnun. And the sunne yede doun to hem bisidis Gabaa, which is in the lynage of Beniamyn;
So they went on their way; and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the land of Benjamin.
15 and thei turneden to it, that thei schulden dwelle there. Whidur whanne thei hadden entrid, thei saten in the street of the citee, and no man wolde resseyue hem to herbore.
And they went off the road there with the purpose of stopping for the night in Gibeah: and he went in, seating himself in the street of the town, for no one took them into his house for the night.
16 And lo! an eld man turnede ayen fro the feeld, and fro his werk in the euentid, and apperide to hem, which also hym silf was of the hil of Effraym, and he dwellide a pilgrym in Gabaa. Therfor men of that cuntrey weren the sones of Gemyny.
Now when it was evening they saw an old man coming back from his work in the fields; he was from the hill-country of Ephraim and was living in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.
17 And whanne the eld man reiside his iyen, he siy a man sittynge with hise fardels in the street of the citee; and he seide to `that man, Fro whennus comest thou? and whidur goist thou?
And when he saw the traveller in the street of the town, the old man said, Where are you going? and where do you come from?
18 Which answeride to hym, We yeden forth fro Bethleem of Juda, and we gon to oure place, which is in the side of the hil of Effraym, fro whennus we yeden to Bethleem; and now we gon to the hows of God, and no man wole resseyue vs vndur his roof,
And he said to him, We are on our way from Beth-lehem-judah to the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim: I came from there and went to Beth-lehem-judah: now I am on my way back to my house, but no man will take me into his house.
19 and we han prouendre and hey in to mete of assis, and breed and wyn in to myn vsis, and of thin handmayde, and of the child which is with me; we han no nede to ony thing, no but to herbore.
But we have dry grass and food for our asses, as well as bread and wine for me, and for the woman, and for the young man with us: we have no need of anything.
20 To whom the eld man answeride, Pees be with thee; Y schal yyue alle `thingis, that ben nedeful; oneli, Y biseche, dwelle thou not in the street.
And the old man said, Peace be with you; let all your needs be my care; only do not take your rest in the street.
21 And he brouyte hym in to his hows, and yaf `mete to the assis; and after that thei waischiden her feet, he resseyuede hem `in to feeste.
So he took them into his house and gave the asses food; and after washing their feet they took food and drink.
22 While thei eeten, and refreischiden the bodies with mete and drynk after the trauel of weie, men of that citee camen, the sones of Belial, that is, with out yok, and thei cumpassiden the `hows of the elde man, and bigunnun to knocke the doris; and thei crieden to the lord of the hows, and seiden, Lede out the man that entride in to thin hows, that we mysuse him.
While they were taking their pleasure at the meal, the good-for-nothing men of the town came round the house, giving blows on the door; and they said to the old man, the master of the house, Send out that man who came to your house, so that we may take our pleasure with him.
23 And the elde man yede out to hem, and seide, Nyle ye, britheren, nyle ye do this yuel; for the man entride in to myn herbore; and ceesse ye of this foli.
So the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said, No, my brothers, do not this evil thing; this man has come into my house, and you are not to do him this wrong.
24 Y haue a douyter virgyn, and this man hath a wijf; Y schal lede out hem to you, that ye make lowe hem, and fille youre lust; oneli, Y biseche, that ye worche not this cursidnesse ayens kynde `ayens the man.
See, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his servant-wife: I will send them out for you to take them and do with them whatever you will. But do no such thing of shame to this man.
25 Thei nolden assente to hise wordis; which thing the man siy, and ledde out his wijf to hem, and bitook to hem hir to be defoulid. And whanne thei hadden misusid hir al niyt, thei leften hir in the morewtid.
But the men would not give ear to him: so the man took his woman and sent her out to them; and they took her by force, using her for their pleasure all night till the morning; and when dawn came they let her go.
26 And whanne the derknessis departiden, the womman cam to the dore of the hows, where hir lord dwellide, and there sche felde doun.
Then at the dawn of day the woman came, and, falling down at the door of the man's house where her master was, was stretched there till it was light.
27 Whanne the morewtid was maad, the man roos, and openyde the dore, `that he schulde fille the weie bigunnun; and lo! his wijf lay bifor the dore, with hondis spred in the threischfold.
In the morning her master got up, and opening the door of the house went out to go on his way; and he saw his servant-wife stretched on the earth at the door of the house with her hands on the step.
28 And he gesside `hir to reste, `and spak to hir, Rise thou, and go we. `And whanne sche answeride no thing, he vndirstode that sche was deed; and he took hir, and puttide on the asse, and turnede ayen in to his hows.
And he said to her, Get up and let us be going; but there was no answer; so he took her up and put her on the ass, and went on his way and came to his house.
29 And whanne he entride in `to that hows, he took a swerd, and departide in to twelue partis and gobetis the deed body of the wijf, and sente in to alle the termes of Israel.
And when he had come to his house, he got his knife, and took the woman, cutting her up bone by bone into twelve parts, which he sent through all Israel.
30 And whanne alle `men hadden herde this, thei crieden, Neuere siche a thing was don in Israel, fro that dai `in which oure fadris stieden fro Egipt `til in to `present tyme; seie ye sentence, and deme ye in comyn, what is nede to be doon.
And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it.
