Judges 19
19
1And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah. 2And his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there the space of four months. 3And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly unto her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4And his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. 5And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son-in-law, Strengthen thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye shall go your way. 6So they sat down, and did eat and drink, both of them together: and the damsel’s father said unto the man, Be pleased, I pray thee, to tarry all night, and let thy heart be merry. 7And the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again. 8And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel’s father said, Strengthen thy heart, I pray thee, and tarry ye until the day declineth; and they did eat, both of them. 9And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thy heart may be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
10But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus (the same is Jerusalem): and there were with him a couple of asses saddled; his concubine also was with him. 11When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside into the city of a foreigner, that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah. 13And he said unto his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah. 14So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them near to Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. 15And they turned aside thither, to go in to lodge in Gibeah: and he went in, and sat him down in the street of the city; for there was no man that took them into his house to lodge.
16And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even: now the man was of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? 18And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah unto the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim; from thence am I, and I went to Beth-lehem-judah: and I am now going to the house of Jehovah; and there is no man that taketh me into his house. 19Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man that is with thy servants: there is no want of anything. 20And the old man said, Peace be unto thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. 21So he brought him into his house, and gave the asses fodder; and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.
22As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him. 23And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly. 24Behold, here is my daughter a virgin, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not any such folly. 25But the men would not hearken to him: so the man laid hold on his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. 26Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light.
27And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. 28And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going; but none answered: then he took her up upon the ass; and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. 29And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel. 30And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider it, take counsel, and speak.
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Judges 19: ASV
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Judges 19
19
Civil war against the tribe of Benjamin
A woman is murdered
1Before kings ruled Israel, a Levite#19.1 a Levite: Someone from the Levi tribe, which had no tribal lands of its own. was living deep in the hill country of the Ephraim tribe. He married#19.1 married: See the note at 8.31. a woman from Bethlehem in Judah, 2but she was unfaithful and went back to live with her family in Bethlehem.
Four months later 3her husband decided to try and talk her into coming back. So he went to Bethlehem, taking along a servant and two donkeys. He talked with his wife, and she invited him into her family's home. Her father was glad to see him 4and did not want him to leave. So the man stayed three days, eating and drinking with his father-in-law.
5When everyone got up on the fourth day, the Levite started getting ready to go home. But his father-in-law said, “Don't leave until you have a bite to eat. You'll need strength for your journey.”
6The two men sat down together and ate a big meal. “Come on,” the man's father-in-law said. “Stay tonight and have a good time.”
7The Levite tried to leave, but his father-in-law insisted, and he spent one more night. 8On the fifth day, the man got up early to leave, but his wife's father said, “You need to keep up your strength! Why don't you leave straight after lunch?” So the two of them started eating.
9Finally, the Levite got up from the meal, so he and his wife and servant could leave. “Look,” his father-in-law said, “it's already late afternoon, and if you leave now, you won't get very far before dark. Stay with us one more night and enjoy yourself. Then you can get up early tomorrow morning and start home.”
10But the Levite decided not to spend the night there again. He had the saddles put on his two donkeys, then he and his wife and servant travelled as far as Jebus, which is now called Jerusalem. 11It was beginning to get dark, and the man's servant said, “Let's stop and spend the night in this town where the Jebusites live.”
12“No,” the Levite answered. “They aren't Israelites, and I refuse to spend the night there. We'll stop for the night at Gibeah, 13because we can make it to Gibeah or perhaps even to Ramah#19.13 Gibeah…Ramah: It was about five kilometres from Jerusalem to Gibeah, and another five kilometres to Ramah. before dark.”
14They walked on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just after sunset. 15They left the road and went into Gibeah. But the Levite couldn't find a house where anyone would let them spend the night, and they sat down in the open area just inside the town gates.
16Soon an old man came in through the gates on his way home from working in the fields. Most of the people who lived in Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, but this man was originally from the hill country of Ephraim. 17He noticed that the Levite was just in town to spend the night. “Where are you going?” the old man asked. “Where did you come from?”
18“We've come from Bethlehem in Judah,” the Levite answered. “We went there on a visit. Now we're going to the place where the LORD is worshipped, and later we will return to our home in the hill country of Ephraim. But no one here will let us spend the night#19.18 spend the night: People usually considered it a duty to ask travellers to spend the night in their homes, since there were often no other places to stay. in their home. 19We brought food for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves, so we don't need anything except a place to sleep.”
20The old man said, “You are welcome to spend the night in my home and to be my guest, but don't stay out here!”
21The old man brought them into his house and fed their donkeys. Then he and his guests washed their feet#19.21 washed their feet: This was a custom, since people wore open sandals and their feet would be dirty after walking on the earth roads or working in the fields. and began eating and drinking. 22They were having a good time, when some worthless men of that town surrounded the house and started banging on the door and shouting, “A man came to your house tonight. Send him out, so we can have sex with him!”#Gn 19.5-8.
23The old man went outside and said, “My friends, please don't commit such a horrible crime against a man who is a guest in my house. 24Let me send out my daughter instead. She's a virgin. And I'll even send out the man's wife.#19.24 wife: See the note at 8.31. You can rape them or do whatever else you want, but please don't do such a horrible thing to this man.”
25The men refused to listen, so the Levite grabbed his wife and shoved her outside. The men raped her and abused her all night long. Finally, they let her go just before sunrise, 26and it was almost daybreak when she went back to the house where her husband#19.26 husband: Or “owner”; the Hebrew word may mean that she was his slave and had no legal rights. was staying. She collapsed at the door and lay there until sunrise.
27About that time, her husband woke up and got ready to leave. He opened the door and went outside, where he found his wife lying at the door with her hands on the doorstep. 28“Get up!” he said. “It's time to leave.”
But his wife didn't move.#19.28 move: Hebrew; one ancient translation “move. She was dead.”
He lifted her body on to his donkey and left. 29When he got home, he took a butcher's knife and cut her body into twelve pieces. Then he told some messengers, “Take one piece to each tribe of Israel#1 S 11.7. 30and ask everyone if anything like this has ever happened since Israel left Egypt. Tell them to think about it, talk it over, and tell us what should be done.”
Everyone who saw a piece of the body said, “This is horrible! Nothing like this has ever happened since the day Israel left Egypt.”#19.29,30 he told some messengers…since Israel left Egypt: One ancient translation; Hebrew “he told some messengers, ‘Take one piece to each tribe of Israel.’ Everyone who saw a piece of the body said, ‘This is horrible! Nothing like this has ever happened since the day Israel left Egypt. Think of it! Let's talk it over and decide what to do.’ ”
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012