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
Sexual Immorality
1In those days when Israel didn’t have a king, there was a Levite who lived in a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. He took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.#19:1 A concubine is considered a wife except she has fewer rights under the law. 2But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went to her father’s home, to Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, 3her husband went to persuade her to come back home. He took along his servant and two donkeys.
She took her husband into her father’s house. Her father was thrilled to see him. 4He made the Levite stay there with him, celebrating for three days.
5On the fourth day they got up early in the morning to leave, but the woman’s father told his son-in-law, “Eat something to keep up your strength and then you can go.” 6So they both sat down and ate and drank together. The woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Why don’t you spend the night and enjoy yourself?” 7When the Levite started to leave, his father-in-law urged him to stay another night, so he did.
8On the morning of the fifth day, the Levite got up early to leave. The woman’s father said, “Eat something to keep up your strength!” So they spent the time eating until late afternoon. 9The Levite started to leave with his concubine and his servant. But his father-in-law said to him, “It’s already evening. Please stay another night. It’s too late ⌞to leave⌟ now. Stay here, and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can start out early to go home.” 10But the Levite refused to spend another night.
He left and traveled as far as Jebus (now called Jerusalem). He had with him two saddled donkeys and his concubine. 11By the time they were near Jebus, it was very late in the day. The Levite’s servant said to him, “Let’s go spend the night in Jebus.”
12The Levite told him, “We’ll never go into a city of foreigners. They’re not Israelites. We’ll go on to Gibeah.” 13He told his servant, “Let’s go someplace else. We’ll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah.”
14So they went on. It was sunset by the time they arrived at Gibeah. (Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.) 15They went to spend the night there. The Levite entered Gibeah and sat down in the city square, because no one offered to take them home for the night.
16That evening an old man came into the city from his work in the fields. He was from the mountain region of Ephraim but lived in Gibeah. The other people who lived there were from the tribe of Benjamin. 17He saw the traveler in the city square. So the old man asked, “Where do you come from? And where are you going?”
18The Levite replied, “We’re on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. That’s where I’m from. I had gone to Bethlehem in Judah. Now I’m going to the Lord’s house, but no one has offered to take me into his home. 19We have straw and fodder for our donkeys. I even have bread and wine for myself, the woman, and my servant. We have everything we need.”
20Then the old man said, “Welcome! Let me take care of your needs. Just don’t spend the night in the city square.” 21So he took the Levite to his house and fed the donkeys. After they washed, they ate and drank.
22While they were enjoying themselves, some worthless men from the city surrounded the house and pounded on the door. They told the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we can have sex with him.”
23The owner went out to them. He told them, “No, my friends! Please don’t do anything so evil! This man is a guest in my home. Don’t do such a godless thing! 24Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. Rape them, and do with them whatever you want. Just don’t do such a godless thing to this man.”
25But the men refused to listen to him. So the Levite grabbed his concubine and forced her outside. They had sex with her and abused her all night until morning. They let her go when the sun was coming up. 26At daybreak, the woman came to the door of the house where her husband was and collapsed. She was still there when it became light.
27Her husband got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and was about to leave. His wife (that is, his concubine) was lying at the door of the house with her hands on the doorstep. 28The Levite said to her, “Get up! Let’s go!” But she did not answer. So he put her on the donkey and left for home.
29When he arrived home, he got a knife. He took his concubine and cut her limb from limb into 12 pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territories of Israel.
30Everyone who saw it said, “Never has such a thing happened or been seen from the time the people of Israel came out of Egypt until today. Think about it! Form a plan, and speak out!”
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