Judges 19-21 (21st Century King James Version)

Judges 19

 ¹And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of Mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem in Judah.

   
 ²And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months.

   
 ³And her husband arose and went after her to speak friendly unto her and to bring her back, having his servant with him and a couple of asses. And she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

   
 ⁴And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, entertained him, and he tarried with him three days; so they ate and drank and lodged there.

   
 ⁵And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart; and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, "Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way."

   
 ⁶And they sat down and ate and drank both of them together; for the damsel's father had said unto the man, "Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry."

   
 ⁷And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him; therefore he lodged there again.

   
 ⁸And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the damsel's father said, "Comfort thine heart, I pray thee." And they tarried until afternoon, and they ate both of them.

   
 ⁹And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, "Behold, now the day draweth toward evening. I pray you tarry all night. Behold, the day groweth to an end. Lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home."

   
 ¹⁰But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem. And there were with him two asses saddled. His concubine also was with him.

   
 ¹¹And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, "Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it."

   
 ¹²And his master said unto him, "We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger that is not of the children of Israel. We will pass over to Gibeah."

   
 ¹³And he said unto his servant, "Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah or in Ramah."

   
 ¹⁴And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.

   
 ¹⁵And they turned aside thither to go in and to lodge in Gibeah; and when he went in, he sat down in a street of the city, for there was no man who took them into his house for lodging.

   
 ¹⁶And behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at evening, who was also of Mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites.

   
 ¹⁷And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, "Whither goest thou? And from whence comest thou?"

   
 ¹⁸And he said unto him, "We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the side of Mount Ephraim; from thence am I. And I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man who receiveth me to his house.

   
 ¹⁹Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses, and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaid and for the young man who is with thy servants. There is no want of any thing."

   
 ²⁰And the old man said, "Peace be with thee. Howsoever, let all thy wants lie upon me. Only lodge not in the street." JUDG 19:21 So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

   
 ²²Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about and beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring forth the man who came into thine house, that we may know him."

   
 ²³And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them and said unto them, "Nay, my brethren! Nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly! Seeing that this man has come into mine house, do not this folly.

   
 ²⁴Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine. Them I will bring out now, and humble ye them and do with them what seemeth good unto you; but unto this man do not so vile a thing!"

   
 ²⁵But the men would not hearken to him. So the man took his concubine and brought her forth unto them, and they knew her and abused her all the night until the morning; and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

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

   
 ²⁷And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and behold, the woman, his concubine, had fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold.

   
 ²⁸And he said unto her, "Up, and let us be going." But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up and went unto his place.

   
 ²⁹And when he had come into his house, he took a knife and laid hold on his concubine and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the regions of Israel.

   
 ³⁰And it was so, that all who saw it said, "There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak your minds."

   

Judges 20

 ¹Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpah.

   
 ²And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen who drew the sword.

   
 ³(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then said the children of Israel, "Tell us, how was this wickedness?"

   
 ⁴And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was slain, answered and said, "I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

   
 ⁵And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me; and my concubine have they forced, so that she is dead.

   
 ⁶And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.

   
 ⁷Behold, ye are all children of Israel. Give here your advice and counsel."

   
 ⁸And all the people arose as one man, saying, "We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house.

   
 ⁹But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up by lot against it;

   
 ¹⁰and we will take ten men out of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand to fetch victuals for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel."

   
 ¹¹So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man.

   
 ¹²And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that is done among you?

   
 ¹³Now therefore, deliver us the men, the children of Belial, who are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel." But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel;

   
 ¹⁴but the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battle against the children of Israel.

   
 ¹⁵And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered seven hundred chosen men.

   
 ¹⁶Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men, lefthanded. Every one could sling stones at a hairbreadth and not miss.

   
 ¹⁷And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of war.

   
 ¹⁸And the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God and said, "Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up first."

   
 ¹⁹And the children of Israel rose up 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 array to fight against them at Gibeah.

   
 ²¹And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.

   
 ²²And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and set up again in battle array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day.

   
 ²³And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother?" And the LORD said, "Go up against him."

   
 ²⁴And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day.

   
 ²⁵And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.

   
 ²⁶Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up, and came unto the house of God and wept, and sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

   
 ²⁷And the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

   
 ²⁸and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, "Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother, or shall I cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand."

   
 ²⁹And Israel set liersinwait round about Gibeah.

   
 ³⁰And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times.

   
 ³¹And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite some of the people and kill, as at other times, in the highways (of which one goeth up to the house of God and the other to Gibeah in the field), about thirty men of Israel.

   
 ³²And the children of Benjamin said, "They are smitten down before us, as at the first." But the children of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them from the city unto the highways."

   
 ³³And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baaltamar; and the liersinwait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.

   
 ³⁴And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore; but they knew not that evil was near them.

   
 ³⁵And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel; and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and a hundred men; all these drew the sword.

   
 ³⁶So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten; for the men of Israel gave way to the Benjamites, because they trusted in the liersinwait whom they had set against Gibeah.

   
 ³⁷And the liersinwait hastened and rushed upon Gibeah; and the liersinwait drew themselves along, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.

   
 ³⁸Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liersinwait that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.

   
 ³⁹And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; for they said, "Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle."

   
 ⁴⁰But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.

   
 ⁴¹And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed; for they saw that evil had come upon them.

   
 ⁴²Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.

   
 ⁴³Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them and trod them down with ease opposite Gibeah toward the sunrising.

   
 ⁴⁴And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men. All these were men of valor.

   
 ⁴⁵And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon; and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and pursued hard after them unto Gidom and slew two thousand men of them.

   
 ⁴⁶So all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men who drew the sword. All these were men of valor.

   
 ⁴⁷But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months.

   
 ⁴⁸And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city and the beast, and all that came to hand. Also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

   

Judges 21

 ¹Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpah, saying, "There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin for a wife."

   
 ²And the people came to the house of God, and remained there till evening before God, and lifted up their voices and wept sorely,

   
 ³and said, "O LORD God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?"

   
 ⁴And it came to pass on the morrow that the people rose early and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

   
 ⁵And the children of Israel said, "Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who came not up with the congregation unto the LORD?" For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death."

   
 ⁶And the children of Israel repented for Benjamin their brother and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.

   
 ⁷What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them from our daughters for wives?"

   
 ⁸And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel who came not up to Mizpah to the LORD?" And behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

   
 ⁹For the people were numbered, and behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.

   
 ¹⁰And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the most valiant and commanded them, saying, "Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, along with the women and the children.

   
 ¹¹And this is the thing that ye shall do: Ye shall utterly destroy every male and every woman that hath lain with a man."

   
 ¹²And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins who had known no man by lying with any male; and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

   
 ¹³And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and to proclaim peace unto them.

   
 ¹⁴And Benjamin came again at that time, and they gave them wives whom they had saved alive from the women of Jabeshgilead; and yet so they sufficed them not.

   
 ¹⁵And the people repented for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

   
 ¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?"

   
 ¹⁷And they said, "There must be an inheritance for those who have escaped of Benjamin, that a tribe be not destroyed out of Israel.

   
 ¹⁸However that be, we may not give them wives from our daughters; for the children of Israel have sworn, saying, `Cursed be he that giveth a wife to Benjamin.'"

   
 ¹⁹Then they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah."

   
 ²⁰Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

   
 ²¹and see. And behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards and catch you every man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

   
 ²²And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, `Be favorable unto them for our sakes, because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war; for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.'"

   
 ²³And the children of Benjamin did so, and took for themselves wives according to their number from those who danced whom they caught; and they went and returned unto their inheritance, and repaired the cities, and dwelt in them.

   
 ²⁴And the children of Israel departed from thence at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family; and they went out from thence every man to his inheritance.

   
 ²⁵In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.