Judges 19–21

The Levite’s Concubine

19And it came to pass in those days, ^awhen there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from ^bBethlehem in Judah. ²But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months. ³Then her husband arose and went after her, to ^cspeak ¹kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴Now his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there.

⁵Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, ^d“Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.”

⁶So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again. ⁸Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate.

⁹And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get ²home.”

¹⁰However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite ^eJebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him. ¹¹They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city ^fof the Jebusites and lodge in it.”

¹²But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on ^gto Gibeah.” ¹³So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in ^hRamah.” ¹⁴And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for no one would ⁱtake them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶Just then an old man came in from ^jhis work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷And when he raised his eyes, he 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?”

¹⁸So he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to ^kthe house of the Lord. But there is no one who will take me into his house, ¹⁹although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.”

²⁰And the old man said, ^l“Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; ^monly do not spend the night in the open square.” ²¹ⁿSo he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. ^oAnd they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah’s Crime

²²As they were ^penjoying themselves, suddenly ^qcertain men of the city, ^rperverted ³men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, ^s“Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!”

²³But ^tthe man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, ^udo not commit this outrage. ^24vLook, here is my virgin daughter and ⁴the man’s concubine; let me bring them out now. ^wHumble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!” ²⁵But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they ^xknew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go.

²⁶Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light.

²⁷When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But ^ythere was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place.

²⁹When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and ^zdivided her into twelve pieces, ⁵limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, ^aconfer, and speak up!”

Israel’s War with the Benjamites

20So ^aall the children of Israel came out, from ^bDan to ^cBeersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord ^dat Mizpah. ²And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand foot soldiers ^ewho drew the sword. ³(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.)

Then the children of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?”

⁴So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “My concubine and ^fI went into Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, to spend the night. ^5gAnd the men of Gibeah rose against me, and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me, ^hbut instead they ravished my concubine so that she died. ⁶So ⁱI took hold of my concubine, cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel, because they ^jcommitted lewdness and outrage in Israel. ⁷Look! All of you are children of Israel; ^kgive your advice and counsel here and now!”

⁸So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; ⁹but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up ^lagainst it by lot. ¹⁰We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to make provisions for the people, that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin, they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel.” ¹¹So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

^12mThen the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? ¹³Now therefore, deliver up the men, ⁿthe ¹perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and ^oremove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel. ¹⁴Instead, the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah, to go to battle against the children of Israel. ¹⁵And from their cities at that time ^pthe children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered seven hundred select men. ¹⁶Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were ^qleft-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss. ¹⁷Now besides Benjamin, the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword; all of these were men of war.

¹⁸Then the children of Israel arose and ^rwent up to ²the house of God to ^sinquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”

The Lord said, ^t“Judah first!”

¹⁹So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. ²⁰And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. ²¹Then ^uthe children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites. ²²And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. ^23vThen the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?”

And the Lord said, “Go up against him.”

²⁴So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. ²⁵And ^wBenjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day, and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel; all these drew the sword.

²⁶Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, ^xwent up and came to ³the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ²⁷So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord (^ythe ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ^28zand Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ^astood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my…