19 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was living temporarily in the most remote part of the hill district of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine [of inferior status than a wife] from Bethlehem in Judah.

² And his concubine was untrue to him and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem of Judah and stayed there the space of four months.

³ Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her [to her heart] and to bring her back, having with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

⁴ And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, [insistently] detained him, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank, and he lodged there.

⁵ On the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and the [Levite] prepared to leave, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread and afterward go your way.

⁶ So both men sat down and ate and drank together, and the girl’s father said to the man, Consent to stay all night and let your heart be merry.

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

⁸ And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the girl’s father said, Strengthen your heart and tarry until toward evening. So they ate, both of them.

⁹ And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, I pray you stay all night. Behold, now the day grows to an end, lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow get early on your way and go home.

¹⁰ But the man would not stay that night; so he rose up and departed and came opposite to Jebus, which is Jerusalem. With him were two saddled donkeys [and his servant] and his concubine.

¹¹ When they were near Jebus, it was late, and the servant said to his master, Come I pray, and let us turn into this Jebusite city and lodge in it.

¹² His master said to him, We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.

¹³ And he said to his servant, Come and let us go to one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or in 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 lodge at Gibeah. And the Levite went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no man 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. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was living temporarily in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites.

¹⁷ And when he looked up, he saw the wayfarer in the city square, and the old man said, Where are you going? And from where did you come?

¹⁸ The Levite replied, We are passing from Bethlehem of Judah to the rear side of the hill country of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem of Judah, but I am [now] going [home] to the house of the Lord [where I serve], and there is no man who receives me into his house.

¹⁹ Yet we have both straw and provender for our donkeys and bread and wine also for me, your handmaid, and the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.

²⁰ And the old man said, Peace be to you, but leave all your wants to me; only do not lodge in the street.

²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave provender to the donkeys. And the guests washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain worthless fellows, beset the house round about, beat on the door, and said to the master of the house, the old man, Bring forth the man who came to your house, that we may have intercourse with him.

²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out and said to them, No, my kinsmen, I pray you, do not act so wickedly; seeing that this man is my guest, do not do this [wicked] folly.

²⁴ Behold, here are my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine; them I will bring out now; debase them and do with them what seems good to you, but to this man do not so vile a thing.

²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and forced her forth to them, and they had intercourse with her and abused her all the night until morning. And when the dawn began to break, they let her go.

²⁶ At daybreak the woman came and fell down and lay at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light.

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

²⁸ And he said to her, Up, and let us be going. But there was no answer [for she was dead]. Then he put her [body] upon the donkey, and the man rose up and went home.

²⁹ And when he came into his house, he took a knife, and took hold of his dead concubine and divided her [body] limb by limb into twelve pieces and sent her [body] throughout all the territory of Israel.

³⁰ And all who saw it said, There was no such deed done or seen from the day that the Israelites came up out of the land of Egypt to this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak [your minds].

20 Then all the Israelites came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah, from Dan even to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead.

² And the 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 who drew the sword.

³ (Now the Benjamites [among whom the vile tragedy occurred] heard that the [other] Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) There the Israelites asked, How did this wickedness happen?

⁴ And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, replied, I came to Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.

⁵ And the men of Gibeah rose against me and beset the house round about me by night; they meant to kill me and they raped my concubine, and she is dead.

⁶ And 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 abomination and [wicked] folly in Israel.

⁷ Behold, you Israelites, all of you, give here your advice and counsel.

⁸ And all the people arose as one man, saying, Not any of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his home.

⁹ But now this we will do to Gibeah: we will go up by lot against it,

¹⁰ And we will take ten men of 100 throughout all the tribes of Israel, and 100 of 1,000, and 1,000 out of 10,000, to bring provisions for the men, that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin they may do to them according to all the [wicked] folly which they have committed in Israel.

¹¹ So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, united as one man.

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

¹³ Now therefore, give up the men [involved], the base fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel. But the Benjamites would not listen to the voice of their kinsmen the Israelites.

¹⁴ But the Benjamites out of the cities assembled at Gibeah to go out to battle against the other Israelites.

¹⁵ And the Benjamites mustered out of their cities at that time 26,000 men who drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who mustered 700 chosen men.

¹⁶ Among all these were 700 chosen left-handed men; every one could sling stones at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷ And the men of Israel, other than Benjamin, mustered 400,000 men who drew the sword; all these were men of war.

¹⁸ The Israelites arose and went up to the house of God [Bethel] and asked counsel of God and said, Which of us shall take the lead to battle against the Benjamites? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first.

¹⁹ Then the Israelites rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.

²⁰ And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin and set the battle in array against them at Gibeah.

²¹ The Benjamites came forth out of Gibeah and felled to the ground that day 22,000 men of the Israelites.

²² But the people, the men of Israel, took courage and strengthened themselves and again set their battle line in the same place where they formed it the first day.

²³ And the Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening and asked of the Lord, Shall we go up again to battle against our brethren the Benjamites? And the Lord said, Go up against them.

²⁴ So the Israelites came near against the Benjamites the second day.

²⁵ And Benjamin went forth out of Gibeah against them the second day and felled to the ground the Israelites again, 18,000 men, all of whom were swordsmen.

²⁶ Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up and came to the house of God [Bethel] and wept; and 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 Israelites inquired of the Lord—for the ark of the covenant of God was there [at Bethel] in those days,

²⁸ And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days—saying, Shall we yet again go out to battle against our brethren the Benjamites or shall we quit? And the Lord said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.

²⁹ So Israel set men in ambush round about Gibeah.

³⁰ And the Israelites went up against the Benjamites on the third day and set themselves in array against Gibeah as at other times.

³¹ And the Benjamites went out against their army and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill some of the people as at other times, in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the open country—about thirty men of Israel.

³² And the Benjamites said, They are routed before us as at first. But the Israelites said, Let us flee and draw them from the city to the highways.

³³ And all the men of Israel rose out of their places and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar, and the men of Israel in ambush rushed out of their place in the meadow of Geba.

³⁴ And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was hard; but the Benjamites did not know disaster was close upon them.

³⁵ And the Lord overcame Benjamin before Israel, and the Israelites destroyed of the Benjamites that day 25,100 men, all of whom were swordsmen.

³⁶ So the Benjamites saw that they were defeated. The men of Israel gave ground to the Benjamites, because they trusted in the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah.

³⁷ And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah, and the liers-in-wait moved out and smote all the city with the sword.

³⁸ Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that when they made a great cloud of smoke arise from the city,

³⁹ The men of Israel should all turn back in battle. Now Benjamin had begun to smite and kill some of the men of Israel, about thirty persons. They said, Surely they are falling before us as in the first battle.

⁴⁰ But when the [signal] cloud began to rise out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to the heavens.

⁴¹ When the men of Israel turned back again, the men of Benjamin were dismayed, for they saw that disaster had come upon them.

⁴² Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel and fled toward the wilderness, but the battle followed close behind and overtook them; and the inhabitants of the cities destroyed those [Benjamites] who came through them in their midst.

⁴³ They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and overtook and trod them down at their resting-place as far as opposite Gibeah toward the east.

⁴⁴ And there fell 18,000 men of Benjamin, all of them men of valor.

⁴⁵ And [the Benjamites] turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel picked off on the highways 5,000 men of them; they pursued hard after them to Gidom and slew 2,000 more of them.

⁴⁶ So that all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword, all of them men of valor.

⁴⁷ But 600 men turned and fled to the wilderness to the rock Rimmon and remained at the rock Rimmon four months.

⁴⁸ And the men of Israel turned back against the Benjamites and smote them with the sword, men and beasts and all that they found. Also they set on fire all the towns to which they came.

21 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.

² And the Israelites came to the house of God [Bethel] and sat there until evening before God and lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.^(A)

³ And they said, O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?

⁴ And next morning the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

⁵ And the Israelites said, Which among all the tribes of Israel did not come up with the assembly to the Lord? For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, He shall surely die.

⁶ And the Israelites changed their purpose [and had compassion] for the Benjamites their kinsmen and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel today.

⁷ What shall we do for wives for those who are left, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters as wives?

⁸ And they said, Which one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to Mizpah to the Lord? And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly.

⁹ For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the citizens of Jabesh-gilead was there.

¹⁰ And the congregation sent there 12,000 of the bravest men, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the sword, also the women and the little ones.

¹¹ And this is what you shall do; utterly destroy every male and every woman who is not a virgin.

¹² And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins, who had known no man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³ And the whole congregation sent word to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon and invited them to be friendly with 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; and yet there were not enough for them.

¹⁵ And the people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶ Then the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin are destroyed?

¹⁷ And they said, There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe shall not be wiped out of Israel.

¹⁸ But we cannot give them wives of our daughters, for the Israelites have 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 the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Lebonah.

²⁰ So they commanded the Benjamites, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,

²¹ And watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and catch every 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 us to complain, we will say to them, Grant them graciously unto us, because we did not reserve a wife for each of them in battle, neither did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty [of breaking your oath].

²³ And the Benjamites did so and took wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off; then they went and returned to their inheritance and repaired the towns and dwelt in them.

²⁴ And the Israelites left there then, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

²⁵ In those days ^[a]there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.