Iudicum 19
1 Fuit quidam vir Levites habitans in latere montis Ephraim, qui accepit uxorem de Bethlehem Iuda:
Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
2 quae reliquit eum, et reversa est in domum patris sui in Bethlehem, mansitque apud eum quattuor mensibus.
But she was unfaithful to him and left him to return to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. After she had been there four months,
3 Secutusque est eam vir suus, volens reconciliari ei, atque blandiri, et secum reducere, habens in comitatu puerum et duos asinos: quae suscepit eum, et introduxit in domum patris sui. Quod cum audisset socer eius, eumque vidisset, occurrit ei laetus,
her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, taking his servant and a pair of donkeys. So the girl brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
4 et amplexatus est hominem. Mansitque gener in domo soceri tribus diebus, comedens cum eo et bibens familiariter.
His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay, so he remained with him three days, eating, drinking, and lodging there.
5 Die autem quarto de nocte consurgens, proficisci voluit. Quem tenuit socer, et ait ad eum: Gusta prius pusillum panis, et conforta stomachum, et sic proficisceris.
On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to depart, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and then you can go.”
6 Sederuntque simul, ac comederunt et biberunt. Dixitque pater puellae ad generum suum: Quaeso te ut hodie hic maneas, pariterque laetemur.
So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.”
7 At ille consurgens, coepit velle proficisci. Et nihilominus obnixe eum socer tenuit, et apud se fecit manere.
The man got up to depart, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there 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, he got up early in the morning to depart, but the girl’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.
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 laetum diem, et cras proficisceris ut vadas in domum tuam.
When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”
10 Noluit gener acquiescere sermonibus eius: sed statim perrexit, et venit contra Iebus, quae altero nomine vocatur Ierusalem, ducens secum duos asinos onustos, et concubinam.
But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 Iamque aderant iuxta Iebus, et dies mutabatur in noctem: dixitque puer ad dominum suum: Veni, obsecro, declinemus ad urbem Iebusaeorum, et maneamus in ea.
When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here.”
12 Cui respondit dominus: Non ingrediar oppidum gentis alienae, quae non est de filiis Israel, sed transibo usque Gabaa:
But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”
13 et cum illuc pervenero, manebimus in ea, aut certe in urbe Rama.
He continued, “Come, let us try to reach one of these towns to spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
14 Transierunt ergo Iebus, et coeptum carpebant iter, occubuitque eis sol iuxta Gabaa, quae est in tribu Beniamin:
So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.
15 diverteruntque ad eam, ut manerent ibi. Quo cum intrassent, sedebant in platea civitatis, et nullus eos recipere voluit hospitio.
They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the 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 Iemini.
That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field.
17 Elevatisque oculis, vidit senex sedentem hominem cum sarcinulis suis in platea civitatis: et dixit ad eum: Unde venis? et quo vadis?
When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?”
18 Qui respondit ei: Profecti sumus de Bethlehem Iuda, 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,
The Levite replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the LORD; but no one has taken me into his home,
19 habentes paleas et foenum in asinorum pabulum, et panem ac vinum in meos et ancillae tuae usus, et pueri, qui mecum est: nulla re indigemus nisi hospitio.
even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”
20 Cui respondit senex: Pax tecum sit, ego praebebo omnia quae necessaria sunt: tantum, quaeso, ne in platea maneas.
“Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.”
21 Introduxitque eum in domum suam, et pabulum asinis praebuit: ac postquam laverunt pedes suos, recepit eos in convivium.
So he brought him to his house and fed his donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank.
22 Illis epulantibus, et post laborem itineris, cibo et potu reficientibus corpora, venerunt viri civitatis illius, filii Belial, (id est, absque iugo) et circumdantes domum senis, fores pulsare coeperunt, clamantes ad dominum domus, atque dicentes: Educ virum, qui ingressus est domum tuam, ut abutamur eo.
While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations 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 owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
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, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this 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 would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
26 At mulier, recedentibus tenebris, venit ad ostium domus, ubi manebat dominus suus, et ibi corruit.
Early that morning, the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, collapsed at the doorway, and lay there until it was light.
27 Mane facto, surrexit homo, et aperuit ostium, ut coeptam expleret viam: et ecce concubina eius iacebat ante ostium sparsis in limine manibus.
In the morning, when her master got up and opened the doors of the house to go out on his journey, there was his concubine, collapsed in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
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.
“Get up,” he told her. “Let us go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 Quam cum esset ingressus, arripuit gladium, et cadaver uxoris cum ossibus suis in duodecim partes ac frustra concidens, misit in omnes terminos Israel.
When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.
30 Quod cum vidissent singuli, conclamabant. Numquam res talis facta est in Israel ex eo die, quo ascenderunt patres nostri de Aegypto, usque in praesens tempus: ferte sententiam, et in commune decernite quid facto opus sit.
And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”
