Iudicum 19
1 Fuit quidam vir Levites habitans in latere montis Ephraim, qui accepit uxorem de Bethlehem Juda:
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 quæ reliquit eum, et reversa est in domum patris sui in Bethlehem, mansitque apud eum quatuor mensibus.
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 Secutusque est eam vir suus, volens reconciliari ei, atque blandiri, et secum reducere, habens in comitatu puerum et duos asinos: quæ suscepit eum, et introduxit in domum patris sui. Quod cum audisset socer ejus, eumque vidisset, occurrit ei lætus,
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 et amplexatus est hominem. Mansitque gener in domo soceri tribus diebus, comedens cum eo et bibens familiariter.
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 Die autem quarto de nocte consurgens, proficisci voluit: quem tenuit socer, et ait ad eum: Gusta prius pauxillum panis, et conforta stomachum, et sic proficisceris.
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 Sederuntque simul, ac comederunt et biberunt. Dixitque pater puellæ ad generum suum: Quæso te ut hodie hic maneas, pariterque lætemur.
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 At ille consurgens, cœpit velle proficisci. Et nihilominus obnixe eum socer tenuit, et apud se fecit manere.
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 Mane autem facto, parabat Levites iter. Cui socer rursum: Oro te, inquit, ut paululum cibi capias, et assumptis viribus donec increscat dies, postea proficiscaris. Comederunt ergo simul.
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 Surrexitque adolescens, ut pergeret cum uxore sua et puero. Cui rursum locutus est socer: Considera quod dies ad occasum declivior sit, et propinquat ad vesperum: mane apud me etiam hodie, et duc lætum diem, et cras proficisceris ut vadas in domum tuam.
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 Noluit gener acquiescere sermonibus ejus: sed statim perrexit, et venit contra Jebus, quæ altero nomine vocatur Jerusalem, ducens secum duos asinos onustos, et concubinam.
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 Jamque erant juxta Jebus, et dies mutabatur in noctem: dixitque puer ad dominum suum: Veni, obsecro: declinemus ad urbem Jebusæorum, et maneamus in ea.
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 Cui respondit dominus: Non ingrediar oppidum gentis alienæ, quæ non est de filiis Israël: sed transibo usque Gabaa,
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 et cum illuc pervenero, manebimus in ea, aut certe in urbe Rama.
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 Transierunt ergo Jebus, et cœptum carpebant iter, occubuitque eis sol juxta Gabaa, quæ est in tribu Benjamin:
So they continued walking. When they came near Gibeah, where people from the tribe of Benjamin live, the sun was setting.
15 diverteruntque ad eam, ut manerent ibi. Quo cum intrassent, sedebant in platea civitatis, et nullus eos recipere voluit hospitio.
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 Et ecce, apparuit homo senex, revertens de agro et de opere suo vesperi, qui et ipse de monte erat Ephraim, et peregrinus habitabat in Gabaa: homines autem regionis illius erant filii Jemini.
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 Elevatisque oculis, vidit senex sedentem hominem cum sarcinulis suis in platea civitatis, et dixit ad eum: Unde venis? et quo vadis?
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 Qui respondit ei: Profecti sumus de Bethlehem Juda, et pergimus ad locum nostrum, qui est in latere montis Ephraim, unde ieramus in Bethlehem: et nunc vadimus ad domum Dei, nullusque sub tectum suum nos vult recipere,
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 habentes paleas et fœnum in asinorum pabulum, et panem ac vinum in meos et ancillæ tuæ usus, et pueri qui mecum est: nulla re indigemus nisi hospitio.
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 Cui respondit senex: Pax tecum sit, ego præbebo omnia quæ necessaria sunt: tantum, quæso, ne in platea maneas.
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 Introduxitque eum in domum suam, et pabulum asinis præbuit: ac postquam laverunt pedes suos, recepit eos in convivium.
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 Illis epulantibus, et post laborem itineris cibo et potu reficientibus corpora, venerunt viri civitatis illius, filii Belial (id est, absque jugo), et circumdantes domum senis, fores pulsare cœperunt, clamantes ad dominum domus atque dicentes: Educ virum, qui ingressus est domum tuam, ut abutamur eo.
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 Egressusque est ad eos senex, et ait: Nolite, fratres, nolite facere malum hoc, quia ingressus est homo hospitium meum: et cessate ab hac stultitia.
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 Habeo filiam virginem, et hic homo habet concubinam: educam eas ad vos, ut humilietis eas, et vestram libidinem compleatis: tantum, obsecro, ne scelus hoc contra naturam operemini in virum.
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 Nolebant acquiescere sermonibus illius: quod cernens homo, eduxit ad eos concubinam suam, et eis tradidit illudendam: qua cum tota nocte abusi essent, dimiserunt eam mane.
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 At mulier, recedentibus tenebris, venit ad ostium domus, ubi manebat dominus suus, et ibi corruit.
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 Mane facto, surrexit homo, et aperuit ostium, ut cœptam expleret viam: et ecce concubina ejus jacebat ante ostium sparsis in limine manibus.
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 Cui ille, putans eam quiescere, loquebatur: Surge, et ambulemus. Qua nihil respondente, intelligens quod erat mortua, tulit eam, et imposuit asino, reversusque est in domum suam.
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 Quam cum esset ingressus, arripuit gladium, et cadaver uxoris cum ossibus suis in duodecim partes ac frustra concidens, misit in omnes terminos Israël.
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 Quod cum vidissent singuli, conclamabant: Numquam res talis facta est in Israël, ex eo die quo ascenderunt patres nostri de Ægypto usque in præsens tempus: ferte sententiam, et in commune decernite quid facto opus sit.
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.”
