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.
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 And sche lefte hym, and turnede ayen in to the hows of hir fadir in Bethleem, and sche dwellide at hym foure monethis.
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 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 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 And the hosebonde of the douytir dwellide in `the hows of his wyues fadir in three daies, and eet and drank hoomli with hym.
Her father pressed him to stay with them, so he remained for three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 and whanne Y schal come thidur, we schulen dwelle therynne, `ether certis in the citee of Rama.
Then he told his servant, “Come on, let's try and get to Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night somewhere there.”
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 carried on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just as the sun was setting.
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.
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 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.
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 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?
He looked over and noticed the traveler in the square and asked, “Where are you going and where have 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,
“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 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.
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 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.
“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 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.
He took him home and fed the donkeys. The travelers washed their feet and then started to eat 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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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 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 And whanne the derknessis departiden, the womman cam to the dore of the hows, where hir lord dwellide, and there sche felde doun.
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 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.
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 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.
“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 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.
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 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.
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!”
