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.
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 sche lefte hym, and turnede ayen in to the hows of hir fadir in Bethleem, and sche dwellide at hym foure monethis.
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 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 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 the hosebonde of the douytir dwellide in `the hows of his wyues fadir in three daies, and eet and drank hoomli with hym.
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 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 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 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 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 he roos, and bigan to wilne to go; and neuertheles `the fadir of his wijf helde hym mekeli, and made to dwelle at hym.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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;
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 whanne Y schal come thidur, we schulen dwelle therynne, `ether certis in the citee of Rama.
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 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, and the sun set as they came near to Gibeah, in the territory 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.
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 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 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 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 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 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,
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 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.
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 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.
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 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 the man brought the Levite into his house and gave feed to the donkeys. They washed their feet and ate and drank.
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 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 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 whanne the derknessis departiden, the womman cam to the dore of the hows, where hir lord dwellide, and there sche felde doun.
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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.
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!”
