Iudicum 19
1 fuit quidam vir Levites habitans in latere montis Ephraim qui accepit uxorem de Bethleem Iuda
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 quae reliquit eum et reversa est in domum patris sui Bethleem mansitque apud eum quattuor 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 ei reconciliari 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
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 et comederunt ac biberunt dixitque pater puellae ad generum suum quaeso te ut hodie hic maneas pariterque laetemur
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 coepit 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 facto parabat Levites iter cui rursum socer oro te inquit ut paululum cibi capias et adsumptis 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 adulescens ut pergeret cum uxore sua et puero cui rursum locutus est socer considera quod dies ad occasum declivior sit et propinquet ad vesperum mane apud me etiam hodie et duc laetum 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 adquiescere sermonibus eius sed statim perrexit et venit contra Iebus quae altero nomine vocabatur Hierusalem 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 iamque aderant iuxta Iebus et dies mutabatur in noctem dixitque puer ad dominum suum veni obsecro declinemus ad urbem Iebuseorum 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 alienae quae non est de filiis Israhel 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 igitur Iebus et coeptum carpebant iter occubuitque eis sol iuxta Gabaa quae est in tribu Beniamin
So they continued walking. When they came near Gibeah, where people from the tribe of Benjamin live, the sun was setting.
15 deverteruntque ad eam ut manerent ibi quo cum intrassent sedebant in platea civitatis et nullus eos recipere volebat 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 vespere qui et ipse erat de monte Ephraim et peregrinus habitabat in Gabaa homines autem regionis illius erant filii Iemini
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 Bethleem Iuda et pergimus ad locum nostrum qui est in latere montis Ephraim unde ieramus Bethleem et nunc vadimus ad domum Dei nullusque nos sub tectum suum 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 faenum in asinorum pabulum et panem ac vinum in meos et ancillae tuae 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 praebebo omnia quae necessaria sunt tantum quaeso 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 praebuit 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 ac 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 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 conpleatis 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 adquiescere sermonibus eius quod cernens homo eduxit ad eos concubinam suam et eis tradidit inludendam 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 coeptam expleret viam et ecce concubina eius iacebat 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 ut ambulemus qua nihil respondente intellegens quod erat tulit eam et inposuit 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 frusta concidens misit in omnes terminos Israhel
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 Israhel ex eo die quo ascenderunt patres nostri de Aegypto usque in praesens 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.”
