Judges 19–20

A Levite and His Concubine

19In those days, ^xwhen there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of ^ythe hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from ^zBethlehem in Judah. ²And his concubine was unfaithful to¹ him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. ³Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. ⁴And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. ⁵And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, ^a“Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and ^blet your heart be merry.” ⁷And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. ⁸And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl’s father said, ^c“Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

¹⁰But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite ^dJebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹²And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to ^eGibeah.” ¹³And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at ^fRamah.” ¹⁴So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, ^gfor no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from ^hthe hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. ⁱThe men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” ¹⁸And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going ^jto the house of the Lord,^{2 g}but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. ^kThere is no lack of anything.” ²⁰And the old man said, ^l“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. ^mOnly, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. ⁿAnd they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah’s Crime

²²As they were ^omaking their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, ^psurrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” ²³And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, ^qdo not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, ^rdo not do this vile thing. ^24sBehold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. ^tViolate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man ^rdo not do this outrageous thing.” ²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. ²⁶And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.

²⁷And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” ^uBut there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he ^vdivided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ^30wAnd all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; ^xconsider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Israel’s War with the Tribe of Benjamin

20Then ^yall the people of Israel came out, ^zfrom Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at ^aMizpah. ²And the ^bchiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot ^cthat drew the sword. ³(Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil happen?” ⁴And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, ^d“I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. ^5eAnd the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead. ^6fSo I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed abomination and ^goutrage in Israel. ⁷Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, ^hgive your advice and counsel here.”

⁸And all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house. ⁹But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot, ¹⁰and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel.” ¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

¹²ⁱAnd the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? ¹³Now therefore give up the men, ^jthe worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death ^kand purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. ¹⁴Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. ¹⁵And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day ^l26,000 men ^mwho drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. ¹⁶Among all these were 700 chosen men who were ⁿleft-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. ¹⁷And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered ^m400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

¹⁸The people of Israel arose and went up to ^oBethel and inquired of God, ^p“Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, ^p“Judah shall go up first.”

¹⁹Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. ²⁰And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. ^21qThe people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites. ²²But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. ^23rAnd the people of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until the evening. And they inquired of the Lord, “Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against them.”

²⁴So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. ²⁵And Benjamin ^swent against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who ^tdrew the sword. ²⁶Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to ^uBethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ²⁷And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord ^v(for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ²⁸and ^wPhinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ^xministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

^29ySo Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰And the people of Israel went up against the people of Benjamin on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. ³¹And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and…