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BibleCompass

/Chapter 19

19 / 21

Judges

ESV

Chapter 19

¹In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. ²And his concubine became angry with him and went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and stayed there some four months. ³Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. ⁴And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. ⁵And on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning to depart, the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him, and he stayed there again. ⁸And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl’s father said, “Strengthen your heart, and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has begun to decline; spend the night here. Behold, the day is drawing to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall rise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.” ¹⁰But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus, that is, Jerusalem. He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, 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 city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.” ¹³And he said to his servant, “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 went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵And they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night. ¹⁶And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷And when he lifted up his eyes, he 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?” ¹⁸And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. And I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the Lord, and there is no one who takes me into his house. ¹⁹We have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with us, and there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹So he brought him into his house and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank. ²²As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” ²³And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing. ²⁴Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now and humble them and do with them what seems good to you. But to this man do not do this outrageous thing.” ²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as day began to break, they let her go. ²⁶And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, and lay there till it was light. ²⁷And her master rose in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there lay his concubine at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine, he divided her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰And everyone who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak.”