Judges 19
Legacy Standard Bible
Benjamites Violate a Levite’s Concubine
19 Now it happened in those days, when (A)there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning 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 to her heart in order to bring her back, and his young man was with him as well as a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and the girl’s father saw him and was glad to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5 Now it happened on the fourth day that they got up early in the morning, and he arose to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “(C)Sustain [a]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 pressed him so that he turned back and spent the night there. 8 And on the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain [b]yourself and wait until [c]afternoon”; so both of them ate. 9 Then the man arose to go along with his concubine and young man, and his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn [d]to a close; please spend the night. Behold, the day is [e]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 to your tent.”
10 But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and went and came to a place before (E)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him. 11 They were alongside of Jebus, and the day was almost gone. And (F)the young man said to his master, “Come, please, 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 pass on by until Gibeah.” 13 Then he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to 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 Then they turned aside there in order to enter and to spend the night in Gibeah. So [f]they entered and sat down in the open square of the city. Now no one was taking them into his house to spend the night.
16 But behold, an old man was coming from his work, from the field, at evening. Now the man was from (G)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning 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 And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to [g]the house of Yahweh, and no man is taking me into his house. 19 Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, [h]your maidservant, and (I)the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” 20 Then the old man said, “(J)Peace be to you. Only let me take care of all that you lack; however, do not spend the night in the open square.” 21 (K)So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.
22 They were making their hearts merry, and behold, (L)the men of the city, certain [i](M)vile 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 [j]know him.” 23 Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do evil. Since this man has come into my house, (N)do not commit this disgraceful act. 24 (O)Behold, my daughter who is a virgin, and his concubine—please let me bring them out that you may violate them and do to them whatever is good in your eyes. But do not commit such a disgraceful act against this man.” 25 But the men were not willing to listen to him. So the man took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them; and they knew her and abused her all night until morning, and they let her go at the [k]breaking of dawn. 26 [l]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 Then her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us go,” (P)but there was no answer. Then he took her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his [m]home. 29 Then he entered his house and took a knife and took hold of his concubine and (Q)cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. 30 And 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!”
Read full chapterNotas al pie
- Judges 19:5 Lit your heart
- Judges 19:8 Lit your heart
- Judges 19:8 Lit the day declines
- Judges 19:9 Lit toward evening
- Judges 19:9 Lit declining
- Judges 19:15 As in Gr; M.T. he
- Judges 19:18 Or my house, cf. 19:29
- Judges 19:19 My concubine
- Judges 19:22 Lit sons of Belial, cf. 2 Cor 6:15
- Judges 19:22 Or have relations with
- Judges 19:25 Lit rising
- Judges 19:26 Lit At the turning of the morning
- Judges 19:28 Lit place
Judges 19
New Living Translation
The Levite and His Concubine
19 Now in those days Israel had no king. There was a man from the tribe of Levi living in a remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. One day he brought home a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. 2 But she became angry with him[a] and returned to her father’s home in Bethlehem.
After about four months, 3 her husband set out for Bethlehem to speak personally to her and persuade her to come back. He took with him a servant and a pair of donkeys. When he arrived at[b] her father’s house, her father saw him and welcomed him. 4 Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there.
5 On the fourth day the man was up early, ready to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat before you go.” 6 So the two men sat down together and had something to eat and drink. Then the woman’s father said, “Please stay another night and enjoy yourself.” 7 The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law kept urging him to stay, so he finally gave in and stayed the night.
8 On the morning of the fifth day he was up early again, ready to leave, and again the woman’s father said, “Have something to eat; then you can leave later this afternoon.” So they had another day of feasting. 9 Later, as the man and his concubine and servant were preparing to leave, his father-in-law said, “Look, it’s almost evening. Stay the night and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way.”
10 But this time the man was determined to leave. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his concubine and headed in the direction of Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). 11 It was late in the day when they neared Jebus, and the man’s servant said to him, “Let’s stop at this Jebusite town and spend the night there.”
12 “No,” his master said, “we can’t stay in this foreign town where there are no Israelites. Instead, we will go on to Gibeah. 13 Come on, let’s try to get as far as Gibeah or Ramah, and we’ll spend the night in one of those towns.” 14 So they went on. The sun was setting as they came to Gibeah, a town in the land of Benjamin, 15 so they stopped there to spend the night. They rested in the town square, but no one took them in for the night.
16 That evening an old man came home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah, where the people were from the tribe of Benjamin. 17 When he saw the travelers sitting in the town square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going.
18 “We have been in Bethlehem in Judah,” the man replied. “We are on our way to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim, which is my home. I traveled to Bethlehem, and now I’m returning home.[c] But no one has taken us in for the night, 19 even though we have everything we need. We have straw and feed for our donkeys and plenty of bread and wine for ourselves.”
20 “You are welcome to stay with me,” the old man said. “I will give you anything you might need. But whatever you do, don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took them home with him and fed the donkeys. After they washed their feet, they ate and drank together.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, “Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him.”
23 The old man stepped outside to talk to them. “No, my brothers, don’t do such an evil thing. For this man is a guest in my house, and such a thing would be shameful. 24 Here, take my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can abuse them and do whatever you like. But don’t do such a shameful thing to this man.”
25 But they wouldn’t listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his concubine and pushed her out the door. The men of the town abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman returned to the house where her husband was staying. She collapsed at the door of the house and lay there until it was light.
27 When her husband opened the door to leave, there lay his concubine with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said, “Get up! Let’s go!” But there was no answer.[d] So he put her body on his donkey and took her home.
29 When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine’s body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel.
30 Everyone who saw it said, “Such a horrible crime has not been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt. Think about it! What are we going to do? Who’s going to speak up?”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
