A Levite’s Concubine Degraded

19 Now it came about in those days, when ^(A)there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite ^[a]staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. ² But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her to ^(B)speak ^[b]tenderly to her in order to bring her back, ^[c]taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴ His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. ⁵ Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he ^[d]prepared to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “^(C)Sustain ^[e]yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.” ⁶ So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night, and ^(D)let your heart be merry.” ⁷ Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him so that he spent the night there again. ⁸ On the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain ^[f]yourself, and wait until ^[g]afternoon”; so both of them ate. ⁹ When the man arose to go along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn ^[h]to a close; please spend the night. Lo, the day is ^[i]coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go ^[j]home.”

¹⁰ But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and departed and came to a place opposite ^(E)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone; and ^(F)the servant said to his master, “Please come, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; but we will go on as far as Gibeah.” ¹³ He said to his servant, “Come and let us approach one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵ They turned aside there in order to enter and lodge in Gibeah. When ^[k]they entered, ^[l]they sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from ^(G)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was ^[m]staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place ^(H)were Benjamites. 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 He said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, for I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to ^[n]my house, and no man will take me into his house. ¹⁹ Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, ^[o]your maidservant, and ^(I)the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ The old man said, “^(J)Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the open square.” ^21 (K)So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² While they were ^[p]celebrating, behold, ^(L)the men of the city, certain ^[q](M)worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have ^[r]relations with him.” ²³ Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, ^(N)do not commit this act of folly. ^24 (O)Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them ^[s]whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn. ^26 [t]As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.

²⁷ When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up and let us go,” ^(P)but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his ^[u]home. ²⁹ When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and ^(Q)cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. ³⁰ All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, ^(R)take counsel and speak up!”

Heathen Idols Contrasted with the Lord.

Deliverance from Bondage

8 Therefore there is now no ^(A)condemnation for those who are ^(B)in ^(C)Christ Jesus. ² For ^(D)the law of the Spirit of life ^[a]in ^(E)Christ Jesus ^(F)has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For ^(G)what the Law could not do, ^[b](H)weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in ^(I)the likeness of ^[c]sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the ^(J)requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who ^(K)do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on ^(L)the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, ^(M)the things of the Spirit. ^6 (N)For the mind set on the flesh is ^(O)death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is ^(P)hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are ^(Q)in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ However, you are not ^(R)in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God ^(S)dwells in you. But ^(T)if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ^10 (U)If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is ^[d]alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who ^(V)raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, ^(W)He who raised ^(X)Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^[e]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

¹² So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for ^(Y)if you are living according to the flesh, you ^[f]must die; but if by the Spirit you are ^(Z)putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are ^(AA)being led by the Spirit of God, these are ^(AB)sons of God. ¹⁵ For you ^(AC)have not received a spirit of slavery ^[g]leading to fear again, but you ^(AD)have received ^[h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “^(AE)Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself ^(AF)testifies with our spirit that we are ^(AG)children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, ^(AH)heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(AI)if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ^(AJ)are not worthy to be compared with the ^(AK)glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the ^(AL)anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for ^(AM)the revealing of the ^(AN)sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation ^(AO)was subjected to ^(AP)futility, not willingly, but ^(AQ)because of Him who subjected it, ^[i]in hope ²¹ that ^(AR)the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation ^(AS)groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ^23 (AT)And not only this, but also we ourselves, having ^(AU)the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves ^(AV)groan within ourselves, ^(AW)waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, ^(AX)the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For ^(AY)in hope we have been saved, but ^(AZ)hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But ^(BA)if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Our Victory in Christ

²⁶ In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for ^(BB)we do not know how to pray as we should, but ^(BC)the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and ^(BD)He who searches the hearts knows what ^(BE)the mind of the Spirit is, because He ^(BF)intercedes for the ^[j]saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that ^[k]God causes ^(BG)all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are ^(BH)called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He ^(BI)foreknew, He also ^(BJ)predestined to become ^(BK)conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the ^(BL)firstborn among many brethren; ³⁰ and these whom He ^(BM)predestined, He also ^(BN)called; and these whom He called, He also ^(BO)justified; and these whom He justified, He also ^(BP)glorified.

^31 (BQ)What then shall we say to these things? ^(BR)If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who ^(BS)did not spare His own Son, but ^(BT)delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? ³³ Who will bring a charge against ^(BU)God’s elect? ^(BV)God is the one who justifies; ³⁴ who is the one who ^(BW)condemns? Christ Jesus is He who ^(BX)died, yes, rather who was ^[l](BY)raised, who is ^(BZ)at the right hand of God, who also ^(CA)intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from ^(CB)the love of ^[m]Christ? Will ^(CC)tribulation, or distress, or ^(CD)persecution, or ^(CE)famine, or ^(CF)nakedness, or ^(CG)peril, or sword? ³⁶ Just as it is written,

³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly ^(CI)conquer through ^(CJ)Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither ^(CK)death, nor life, nor ^(CL)angels, nor principalities, nor ^(CM)things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from ^(CN)the love of God, which is ^(CO)in Christ Jesus our Lord.