A Levite and His Concubine

19 In those days, ^(A)when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of ^(B)the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from ^(C)Bethlehem in Judah. ² And his concubine was unfaithful to^[a] him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. ³ Then 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. ⁴ And 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. ⁵ And 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, ^(D)“Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶ So 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 ^(E)let your heart be merry.” ⁷ And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. ⁸ And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl's father said, ^(F)“Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹ And 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.”

¹⁰ But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite ^(G)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹ When 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.” ¹² And 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 ^(H)Gibeah.” ¹³ And 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 ^(I)Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵ and 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, ^(J)for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from ^(K)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. ^(L)The men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷ And 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?” ¹⁸ And 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 ^(M)to the house of the Lord,^{[b] (N)}but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. ^(O)There is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ And the old man said, ^(P)“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. ^(Q)Only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. ^(R)And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah's Crime

²² As they were ^(S)making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, ^(T)surrounded 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.” ²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, ^(U)do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, ^(V)do not do this vile thing. ^24 (W)Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. ^(X)Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man ^(Y)do not do this outrageous thing.” ²⁵ But 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. ²⁶ And 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.

²⁷ And 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. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” ^(Z)But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹ And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he ^(AA)divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ^30 (AB)And 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; ^(AC)consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Israel's War with the Tribe of Benjamin

20 Then ^(AD)all the people of Israel came out, ^(AE)from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at ^(AF)Mizpah. ² And the ^(AG)chiefs 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 ^(AH)that 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?” ⁴ And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, ^(AI)“I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. ^5 (AJ)And 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. ^6 (AK)So 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 ^(AL)outrage in Israel. ⁷ Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, ^(AM)give your advice and counsel here.”

⁸ And 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. ⁹ But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot, ¹⁰ and 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.” ¹¹ So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

^12 (AN)And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What evil is this that has taken place among you? ¹³ Now therefore give up the men, ^(AO)the worthless fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death ^(AP)and purge evil from Israel.” But the Benjaminites would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the people of Israel. ¹⁴ Then the people of Benjamin came together out of the cities to Gibeah to go out to battle against the people of Israel. ¹⁵ And the people of Benjamin mustered out of their cities on that day ^(AQ)26,000 men ^(AR)who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men. ¹⁶ Among all these were 700 chosen men who were ^(AS)left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss. ¹⁷ And the men of Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered ^(AT)400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

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

¹⁹ Then the people of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. ²⁰ And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin, and the men of Israel drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah. ^21 (AX)The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites. ²² But 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. ^23 (AY)And 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.”

²⁴ So the people of Israel came near against the people of Benjamin the second day. ²⁵ And Benjamin ^(AZ)went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who ^(BA)drew the sword. ²⁶ Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to ^(BB)Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ²⁷ And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord ^(BC)(for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, ²⁸ and ^(BD)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ^(BE)ministered 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.”

^29 (BF)So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰ And 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. ³¹ And the people of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And as at other times they began to strike and kill some of the people in the highways, ^(BG)one of which goes up to ^(BH)Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country, about thirty men of Israel. ³² And the people of Benjamin said, ^(BI)“They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” ³³ And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel who were in ambush rushed out of their place from Maareh-geba.^{[c] 34} And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard, ^(BJ)but the Benjaminites did not know that disaster was close upon them. ³⁵ And the Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the people of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day. All these were men who ^(BK)drew the sword. ³⁶ So the people of Benjamin saw that they were defeated.

The men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin, because they trusted the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. ^37 (BL)Then the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah; the men in ambush moved out and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. ³⁸ Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in the main ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city ³⁹ the men of Israel should turn in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty men of Israel. They said, ^(BM)“Surely they are defeated before us, as in the first battle.” ⁴⁰ But when the signal began to rise out of the city in a column of smoke, the Benjaminites looked behind them, and behold, ^(BN)the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven. ⁴¹ Then the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed, ^(BO)for they saw that disaster was close upon them. ⁴² Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in ^(BP)the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them. And those who came out of the cities were destroying them in their midst. ⁴³ Surrounding the Benjaminites, they pursued them and trod them down from Nohah^[d] as far as opposite Gibeah on the east. ⁴⁴ Eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell, all of them men of valor. ⁴⁵ And they turned ^(BQ)and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of ^(BR)Rimmon. Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways. And they were pursued hard to Gidom, and 2,000 men of them were struck down. ⁴⁶ So all who fell that day of Benjamin were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor. ⁴⁷ But 600 men turned and ^(BS)fled toward the wilderness to the rock of ^(BT)Rimmon and remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. ⁴⁸ And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire.

Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin

21 Now the men of Israel had sworn ^(BU)at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” ² And the people came to ^(BV)Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³ And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” ⁴ And the next day the people rose early and ^(BW)built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵ And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” ^(BX)For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ⁶ And the people of Israel ^(BY)had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. ^7 (BZ)What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

⁸ And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from ^(CA)Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. ⁹ For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of ^(CB)Jabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰ So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, ^(CC)“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. ¹¹ This is what you shall do: ^(CD)every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” ¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at ^(CE)Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the ^(CF)rock of Rimmon and ^(CG)proclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴ And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. ¹⁵ And the people ^(CH)had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, ^(CI)“What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷ And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸ Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” ^(CJ)For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” ¹⁹ So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of ^(CK)the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” ²⁰ And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to ^(CL)dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²² And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” ²³ And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance ^(CM)and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. ²⁴ And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

^25 (CN)In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Book Five

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

Ananias and Sapphira

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and with his wife's knowledge ^(A)he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and ^(B)laid it at the apostles' feet. ³ But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^(C)Satan filled your heart to lie ^(D)to the Holy Spirit and ^(E)to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴ While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but ^(F)to God.” ⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he ^(G)fell down and breathed his last. And ^(H)great fear came upon all who heard of it. ⁶ The young men rose and ^(I)wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you^[a] sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” ⁹ But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together ^(J)to test ^(K)the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ And ^(L)great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

¹² Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^(M)by the hands of the apostles. And they were all ^(N)together in ^(O)Solomon's Portico. ¹³ None of the rest dared join them, but ^(P)the people held them in high esteem. ¹⁴ And ^(Q)more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ^15 (R)so that they even ^(S)carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^(T)at least his shadow might fall on some of them. ¹⁶ The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^(U)bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^(V)the Sadducees), and filled with ^(W)jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and ^(X)put them in the public prison. ¹⁹ But during the night ^(Y)an angel of the Lord ^(Z)opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^(AA)the words of ^(AB)this ^(AC)Life.” ²¹ And when they heard this, ^(AD)they entered the temple ^(AE)at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²² But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” ²⁴ Now when ^(AF)the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. ²⁵ And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison ^(AG)are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then ^(AH)the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for ^(AI)they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

²⁷ And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, ^(AJ)“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you ^(AK)intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, ^(AL)“We must obey God rather than men. ^30 (AM)The God of our fathers ^(AN)raised Jesus, ^(AO)whom you killed by hanging him on ^(AP)a tree. ³¹ God exalted ^(AQ)him at his right hand as ^(AR)Leader and ^(AS)Savior, ^(AT)to give ^(AU)repentance to Israel and ^(AV)forgiveness of sins. ³² And ^(AW)we are witnesses to these things, and ^(AX)so is the Holy Spirit, ^(AY)whom God has given to those who obey him.”

³³ When they heard this, they ^(AZ)were enraged and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee in the council named ^(BA)Gamaliel, ^(BB)a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. ³⁵ And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. ³⁶ For ^(BC)before these days Theudas rose up, ^(BD)claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷ After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^(BE)the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. ³⁸ So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for ^(BF)if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; ³⁹ but ^(BG)if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You ^(BH)might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, ⁴⁰ and ^(BI)when they had called in the apostles, ^(BJ)they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ Then they left the presence of the council, ^(BK)rejoicing that they were counted worthy ^(BL)to suffer dishonor for ^(BM)the name. ⁴² And every day, ^(BN)in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ^(BO)preaching ^(BP)that the Christ is Jesus.