Judges 19
1 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.
In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a man, a Levite, living for a while in the most remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. He took for himself a woman, a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
2 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.
But his concubine was unfaithful to him; she left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah. She stayed there for four months.
3 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.
Then her husband got up and went after her in order to persuade her to come back. His servant was with him, and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house. When the girl's father saw him, he was glad.
4 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.
His father-in-law, the girl's father, persuaded him to stay for three days. They ate and drank, and they spent the night there.
5 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.”
On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a bit of bread, then you may go.”
6 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.”
So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Then the girl's father said, “Please be willing to spend the night and have a good time.”
7 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.
When the Levite got up to leave, the father of the young woman urged him to stay, so he changed his plan and spent the night there again.
8 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.
On the fifth day he woke up early to leave, but the girl's father said, “Strengthen yourself, and wait until the afternoon.” So the two of them had a meal.
9 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.”
When the Levite and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father said to him, “See, now the day is advancing toward evening. Please stay another night, and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and go back home.”
10 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.
But the Levite was not willing to spend the night. He got up and left. He went toward Jebus (that is Jerusalem). He had a pair of saddled donkeys—and his concubine was with him.
11 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.”
When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come, let us turn aside to the city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”
12 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].”
His master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who do not belong to the people of Israel. We will go on to Gibeah.”
13 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.”
The Levite said to his young man, “Come, let us go to one of those other places, and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
14 So they continued walking. When they came near Gibeah, where people from the tribe of Benjamin live, the sun was setting.
So they went on, and the sun set as they came near to Gibeah, in the territory of Benjamin.
15 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.
They turned aside there to spend the night in Gibeah. They went and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into his house for the night.
16 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.
But then an old man was coming from his work in the field that evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying for a while in Gibeah. But the men living in that place were Benjamites.
17 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?”
He raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the city square. The old man said, “Where are you going? Where are you coming from?”
18 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.
The Levite said to him, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, which is where I come from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of Yahweh, but there is no one who will take me into his house.
19 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.”
We have straw and feed for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine for me and your female servant here, and for this young man with your servants. We lack nothing.”
20 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.”
The old man greeted them, “Peace be with you! I will take care of all your needs. Only do not spend the night in the square.”
21 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.
So the man brought the Levite into his house and gave feed to the donkeys. They washed their feet and ate and drank.
22 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.”
While they were making their hearts glad, some men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house, beating on the door. They spoke to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so we can have sex with him.”
23 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!
The man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do this evil thing! Since this man is a guest in my house, do not do this wicked thing!
24 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!”
See, my virgin daughter and his concubine are here. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them whatever you like. But do not do such a wicked thing to this man!”
25 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.
But the men would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them. They raped her and abused her all throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.
26 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.
At dawn the woman came and she fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, and she lay there until it was light.
27 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.
Her master rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way. He could see his concubine lying there at the door, with her hands on the threshold.
28 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.
The Levite said to her, “Get up. Let us go.” But there was no answer. He put her on the donkey, and the man set out for home.
29 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].
When the Levite came to his house, he took a knife, and he took hold of his concubine, and cut her up, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent the pieces everywhere throughout Israel.
30 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.”
All who saw this said, “Such a thing has never been done or seen from the day the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this present day. Think about it! Give us advice! Tell us what to do!”
