Judges 19

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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A Levite, his concubine and the men of Gibeah

¹In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite was living for a time in the far reaches of the hill country of Ephraim. He took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. ²But his concubine was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and she stayed there for some time, four months. ³Her husband set out after her to speak tenderly to her and win her back. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. She brought him into her father’s house, and when the young woman’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, pressed him to stay, so he remained with him three days. They ate and drank and spent the nights there. ⁵They rose early on the morning of the fourth day, and he made ready to leave. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat first to strengthen yourself; then you can go.” ⁶So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay the night and enjoy yourself.” ⁷When the man got up to go, his father-in-law kept urging him, so he stayed there another night. ⁸He rose early on the morning of the fifth day to leave, but the young woman’s father said, “Strengthen yourself with some food first, and stay until the afternoon.” So the two of them ate together. ⁹When the man got up to go, with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is fading into evening. Please stay the night. The day is nearly over; spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way home.” ¹⁰But the man refused to stay the night. He got up and set out, and came as far as the place facing Jebus, that is, Jerusalem. He had with him two saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹They were close to Jebus, and the day was nearly over, when the servant said to his master, “Come, let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night there.” ¹²His master answered, “We will not stop in a city of foreigners, where none of the people are Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” ¹³He said to his servant, “Come, let us try to reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” ¹⁴So they passed on and went their way, and the sun set as they came near Gibeah of Benjamin. ¹⁵They turned off the road there to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the town square, but no one took them into a home for the night. ¹⁶Then, that evening, an old man came in from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and was living in Gibeah as an outsider; the men of the town were Benjamites. ¹⁷When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where have you come from?” ¹⁸He answered, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the far reaches of the hill country of Ephraim. That is my home. I had gone to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to the house of the LORD. But nobody here will take me into his home. ¹⁹We have straw and feed of our own for the donkeys, and bread and wine for me, for your servant woman, and for the young man with your servants. We are not short of anything.” ²⁰The old man said, “You are welcome. Leave all your needs to me. Just do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹So he brought him into his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet, and they ate and drank. ²²While they were enjoying themselves, the men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house and kept pounding on the door. They called to the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who has come into your house, so we can have sex with him.” ²³The owner of the house went out to them and said, “No, my brothers, please do not do such evil. This man has come into my house as my guest. Do not do this disgraceful thing. ²⁴Here is my daughter, a virgin, and his concubine. Let me bring them out to you. Violate them and do with them whatever you like. But do not do this disgraceful thing to this man.” ²⁵But the men refused to listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his concubine and put her out to them. They raped her and abused her all night until morning, and let her go as dawn was breaking. ²⁶At daybreak the woman came and collapsed at the door of the man’s house where her master was, and lay there until it was light. ²⁷Her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went out to continue his journey. And there was the woman, his concubine, lying collapsed in the doorway of the house, her hands on the threshold. ²⁸He said to her, “Get up; let us go.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man set out and went home. ²⁹When he reached his house, he took a knife, took hold of his concubine, and cut her up limb by limb into twelve pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰Everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen, from the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt until now. Think about it! Take counsel and speak up!”