JudgesChapter 19

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¹In those days Israel had no king. A Levite lived far back in the hill country of Ephraim. He took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.a ²But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there four months. ³Then her husband got up and went after her. He wanted to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. The young woman brought him into her father's house. When her father saw him, he was glad to welcome him. ⁴His father-in-law, the young woman's father, talked him into staying. So he stayed with him three days. They ate and drank, and he slept there. ⁵On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning, and the Levite got ready to leave. But the young woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Have a bite of bread to give you strength. Then you can go." ⁶So the two men sat down and ate and drank together. Then the young woman's father said to the man, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." ⁷The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law talked him into staying. So he stayed there that night too. ⁸On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to leave. But the young woman's father said, "Please eat something to give you strength." So they waited until late in the afternoon, and the two of them ate. ⁹Then the man got up to leave with his concubine and his servant. But his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, "Look, it's getting late. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Stay here and enjoy yourself. Then tomorrow you can get up early and start your trip home." ¹⁰But the man did not want to spend another night. He got up and left. He came to a place across from Jebus, which is Jerusalem. He had his two donkeys with saddles on them, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹They were near Jebus, and the day was almost over. The servant said to his master, "Please, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites. Let's spend the night here." ¹²But his master answered, "We won't stop at a city of foreigners. No Israelites live there. We'll go on to Gibeah." ¹³He said, "Come on. Let's try to reach one of these towns. We can spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah." ¹⁴So they kept going. The sun went down as they came near Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. ¹⁵They turned off the road to go into Gibeah and spend the night. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square. But no one would take them into their home for the night. ¹⁶That evening an old man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah. (The men of that town were from the tribe of Benjamin.) ¹⁷The old man looked up and saw the traveler in the city square. He asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?" ¹⁸The Levite answered, "We're traveling from Bethlehem in Judah. We're going to the far hill country of Ephraim, where I'm from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah. Now I'm going to the house of the LORD. But no one has taken me into his home. ¹⁹We have straw and feed for our donkeys. We have bread and wine for me and for the young woman and the young man with me. We, your servants, don't need anything." ²⁰"Peace to you," the old man said. "Let me give you whatever you need. Just don't spend the night in the square." ²¹So he brought the Levite into his house and fed his donkeys. They washed their feet and ate and drank. ²²While they were having a good time, some wicked men of the city surrounded the house. They pounded on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house! We want to have sex with him!" ²³The owner of the house went out to them. He said, "No, my brothers! Don't do this evil thing! This man is a guest in my house. Don't do this shameful thing. ²⁴Look, here is my daughter, who is a virgin, and here is this man's concubine. Let me bring them out to you. You can abuse them and do whatever you want with them. But don't do such a disgusting thing to this man." ²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and pushed her outside to them. They raped her and abused her all night long. Then at dawn they let her go. ²⁶Early that morning, the woman went back to the house where her master was staying. She fell down at the door and lay there until it was light. ²⁷In the morning her master got up. He opened the doors of the house to go on his way. And there was his concubine, lying fallen at the door of the house. Her hands were on the doorway. ²⁸"Get up," he said to her. "Let's go." But she did not answer. So the man put her on his donkey and started for home. ²⁹When he got home, he took a knife. He took hold of his concubine and cut her body into twelve pieces, limb by limb. Then he sent the pieces all through the land of Israel. ³⁰Everyone who saw it said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen or done! Not since the day the Israelites came out of Egypt until today! Think about it! Talk it over! Tell us what to do!"