Judges 19:16-24

Common English Bible

Rape and murder at Gibeah

¹⁶ Then in the evening, an old man was coming home from his daily work in the fields. This man was from the Ephraim highlands and was an immigrant in Gibeah, the people of that place being Benjaminites. ¹⁷ He looked up and saw the traveler in the city square. “Where are you heading and where have you come from?” the old man asked.

¹⁸ “We’re traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the far corners of the Ephraim highlands,” he replied to the old man. “That’s where I’m from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m heading to my home.^[a] But no one has offered to take me in tonight. ¹⁹ We’ve got our own straw and feed for our donkeys, plus food and wine to provide for me, the woman, and my servant with us. We don’t need anything.”

²⁰ The old man answered, “You’re welcome to stay with me,^[b] but let me take care of all your needs. Just don’t spend the night in the square.” ²¹ And he took him into his house. He mixed feed for the donkeys, and they washed their feet, ate, and drank.

²² While they were relaxing, suddenly the men of the city, a perverse bunch, surrounded the house and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the owner of the house, “Send out the man who came to your house, so we can have sex with him!”

²³ The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, please don’t commit such an evil act, given that this man has come to my home as a guest. Don’t do this disgraceful thing! ²⁴ Here’s my daughter, the young woman, and his secondary wife. Let me send them out, and you can abuse them and do whatever you want to them. But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!”