Judges 19

1And it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a Levite man was dwelling in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, and he took for himself a woman, a concubine, from Bethlehem in Judah.

2But his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house, to Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for four months.

3Then her husband arose and went after her to speak to her heart and bring her back. His young servant was with him, along with a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father’s house, and when the young woman’s father saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

4And his father-in-law, the young woman's father, urged him to stay, and he remained with him three days; and they ate and drank, and spent the nights there.

5On the fourth day, they rose early in the morning, and he got up to go. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you may go.”

6So the two of them sat down together and ate and drank. Then the young woman's father said to the man, "Please, be willing to stay the night, and let your heart be glad."

7Then the man got up to go, but his father-in-law urged him, so he turned back and spent the night there.

8He got up early in the morning on the fifth day to go, but the young woman's father said, “Please strengthen your heart with a morsel of food, and wait until the day declines.” So the two of them ate.

9When the man rose to leave with his concubine and his attendant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is waning toward evening. Please stay the night. Look, the day is nearly over. Spend the night here and let your heart be glad. Then rise early tomorrow for your journey, and go home.”

10But the man was not willing to spend the night. He rose and went and came opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), and with him were a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.

11When they were near Jebus, and the day was far spent, the young man said to his master, “Please come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”

12But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a foreign city, which is not of the sons of Israel; rather, we will go on as far as Gibeah.”

13He said to his young man, “Come, and let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.”

14So they passed on and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

15They turned aside there to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, and there was no man gathering them into his house to spend the night.

16And behold, an old man was coming in from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjaminites.

17He looked up 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?”

18He said to him, “We are passing through from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of Yahweh, but no man is taking me into his house.”

19Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine for me, for your female servant, and for the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything.

20The old man said, “Peace be to you. Only let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.”

21So he brought him into his house and fed the donkeys. Then they washed their feet and ate and drank.

22While they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. They said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may know him.”

23Then the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not act wickedly. Since this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful thing.”

24Look, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out. Violate them and do to them what is good in your eyes. But to this man do not do this outrageous thing.

25But the men were not willing to listen to him, so the man seized 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 dawn.

26The woman came as morning was dawning and fell at the entrance of the house of the man where her master was, until it was light.

27Her master got up 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 entrance of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

28He said to her, “Get up, and let us go.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose and went to his place.

29When he entered his house, he took the knife, seized his concubine, and cut her up, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

30And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has happened or been seen from the day the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak.”