Judges 19

¹ In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite living as a foreigner in the remote hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

² His concubine was unfaithful to him and left him, going to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there for four months.

³ Her husband set out after her to speak tenderly to her and bring her back. He took his servant and a pair of donkeys with him. She brought him into her father’s house, and when the young woman’s father saw him, he was glad to welcome him.

⁴ His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, kept him there, and he stayed with him for three days. They ate, drank, and spent the night there.

⁵ On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to leave. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite of bread to strengthen you, and then you can go.”

⁶ The two of them sat down, ate together, and drank. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please stay another night and enjoy yourself.”

⁷ The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law urged him to stay, so he spent the night there again.

⁸ On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to leave, but the young woman’s father said, “Please have something to strengthen you, and stay until the day is nearly over.” So the two of them ate.

⁹ When the man got up to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is already fading toward evening. Please spend the night here. Look, the day is almost over. Stay here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early and set out on your way, and you can go to your tent.”

¹⁰ But the man did not want to spend the night. He got up and left, and came to a place opposite Jebus, that is, Jerusalem, with his pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine was with him.

¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was almost over, and the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s turn into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night there.”

¹² His master said to him, “We will not turn into a city of foreigners who are not Israelites. Let’s go on to Gibeah.”

¹³ He said to his servant, “Come, let’s approach one of those places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴ They went on, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

¹⁵ They turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. He went in and sat in the city square, but no one took them into a house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Just then, an old man came in from his work in the fields at evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and was living as a foreigner in Gibeah; the men of the place were Benjamites.

¹⁷ 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 He answered, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim; I am from there. 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 house.

¹⁹ We have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me, for your servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. We lack nothing.”

²⁰ The old man said, “Peace be with you! I will take care of anything you lack. Just don’t spend the night in the square.”

²¹ He took him into his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet, ate, and drank.

²² While they were enjoying themselves, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house and pounded on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so we can have sex with him.”

²³ The man who owned the house went out to them and said, “No, my brothers, please don’t do this evil thing. Since this man has come into my house, don’t commit this outrage.

²⁴ Here are my daughter, who is a virgin, and his concubine. I’ll bring them out to you. Violate them and do whatever seems good to you, but don’t commit this outrage against the man.”

²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and took her outside to them. They raped and abused her all night, until morning, and let her go at daybreak.

²⁶ At dawn, the woman came back and collapsed at the door of the man’s house where her master was staying. She lay there until it was light.

²⁷ In the morning, her master got up, opened the doors of the house, and went out to continue on his way. There lay the woman, his concubine, collapsed at the entrance, with her hands on the threshold.

²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, let’s go.” But there was no answer. So he lifted her onto the donkey, got up, and went to his home.

²⁹ When he reached his house, he took a knife, seized his concubine, and cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces. Then he sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

³⁰ Everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen, from the day the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until today. Think it over, take counsel, and speak.”

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