Judges 19:14-30

Amplified Bible

¹⁴ So they passed by and went on their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to [the tribe of] Benjamin, ¹⁵ and they turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. And the Levite went in and sat down in the open square of the city, because no man invited them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Then behold, there was an old man who was coming out of the field from his work at evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was staying in Gibeah, and the men of the place were sons (descendants) of Benjamin. ¹⁷ When he looked up, he saw the traveler [and his companions] in the city square; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” ¹⁸ The Levite replied, “We are passing through from Bethlehem [in the territory] of Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem of Judah, but I am now going [home] to my house, and there is no man [in the city] who will take me into his house [for the night]. ¹⁹ Yet we have both straw and feed for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, and for ^[a]your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ Then the old man said, “Peace be to you. Only leave all your needs to me; and do not spend the night in the open square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and fed the donkeys; and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² While they were ^[b]celebrating, behold, men of the city, certain worthless and evil men, surrounded the house, pounding on the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we may have relations with him.” ²³ Then the man, the master of the house, went out and said to them, “No, my fellow citizens, please do not act so wickedly. Since this man has come to my house [as my guest], do not commit this sacrilege. ²⁴ Here is my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out now; abuse and humiliate them and do to them ^[c]whatever you want, but do not commit this act of ^[d]sacrilege against this man.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man took the Levite’s concubine and brought her outside to them; and they had relations with her and abused her all night until morning; and when daybreak came, they let her go. ^26 [e]At daybreak the woman came and collapsed at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was [fully] light.

²⁷ When her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, he saw his concubine lying at the door of the house, and her hands were on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, and let us go.” But there was no answer [for she had died]. Then he put her [body] on the donkey; and the man left and went home. ²⁹ When he arrived at his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his [dead] concubine, he cut her [corpse] limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her [body parts] throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰ All who saw the dismembered parts said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day that the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak [your minds]!”