Judges 19:1-20:13

New King James Version

The Levite’s Concubine

19 And it came to pass in those days, ^(A)when 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 ^(B)Bethlehem in Judah. ² But 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. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her, to ^(C)speak ^[a]kindly 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. ⁴ Now 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.

⁵ Then 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.”

⁶ So 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.” ⁷ And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again. ⁸ Then 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.

⁹ And 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 ^[b]home.”

¹⁰ However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came opposite ^(E)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him. ¹¹ They 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 ^(F)of the Jebusites and lodge in it.”

¹² But 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 ^(G)to Gibeah.” ¹³ So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in ^(H)Ramah.” ¹⁴ And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵ They 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 ^(I)take them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Just then an old man came in from ^(J)his 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. ¹⁷ And 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?”

¹⁸ So 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 ^(K)the house of the Lord. But there is no one who will take me into his house, ¹⁹ although 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.”

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

Gibeah’s Crime

²² As they were ^(P)enjoying themselves, suddenly ^(Q)certain men of the city, ^(R)perverted^[c] men, 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!”

²³ But ^(T)the 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, ^(U)do not commit this outrage. ^24 (V)Look, here is my virgin daughter and ^[d]the man’s concubine; let me bring them out now. ^(W)Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!” ²⁵ But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they ^(X)knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go.

²⁶ Then 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.

²⁷ When 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. ²⁸ And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But ^(Y)there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place.

²⁹ When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and ^(Z)divided her into twelve pieces, ^[e]limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰ And 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, ^(AA)confer, and speak up!”

Israel’s War with the Benjamites

20 So ^(AB)all the children of Israel came out, from ^(AC)Dan to ^(AD)Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord ^(AE)at Mizpah. ² And 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 ^(AF)who 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?”

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

⁸ So all the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, nor will any turn back to his house; ⁹ but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up ^(AM)against it by lot. ¹⁰ We 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.” ¹¹ So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

^12 (AN)Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? ¹³ Now therefore, deliver up the men, ^(AO)the ^[f]perverted men who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and ^(AP)remove the evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.