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those days there was no king in Israel.
Now there was a Levite who lived in a remote part of the hill country of Ephraim. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she left him and went back to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and she stayed there for four months. 3 Then her husband set out after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him a servant and a couple of donkeys. She brought him into her father’s house, and when the father of the girl saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and stayed there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to leave, but the girl’s father said his son-in-law, “Have some food to eat to keep up your strength, and after that you can go.”
6 So the two of them sat down and they ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.” 7 And when the man got up to leave, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there again. 8 On the fifth day he got up early in the morning to leave, but the girl’s father said to him, “Please gather your strength first.” So they waited until the afternoon, and the two of them ate together.
9 When the man got up to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, it is almost evening. Please stay the night. See, the day is drawing to a close. Spend the night here, enjoy yourself, and tomorrow leave on your journey early and be on your way home.”
10 But the man was not willing to spend the nigh. He got up and left, and arrived at a place opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). The man had with him his two saddled donkeys, and his concubine.
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, please let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night there.”
12 But his master replied to him, “We will not go into this foreign city, where the people are not Israelites. We shall go on to Gibeah.” 13 Then he said to his servant, “Come on, let’s try to reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” 14 So they passed by and continued on their journey. As the sun was setting they were near Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 So they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. They went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them into his house to spend the night.
16 In the evening an old man came in from his work in the field. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was staying in Gibeah. The men of the place, however, were Benjaminites. 17 When the old man looked up, he saw the traveller in the open square, and said to him, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”
18 He answered him, “We are travelling from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim, where I come from. I have been at Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the House of the Lord. No one has taken me into his house. 19 We have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me, your maidservant, and the young man with your servants. We don’t lack anything.”
20 The old man said, “Peace be with you. I will take care of all your needs, only do not spend the night in the open square.” 21 So he brought him into his house and gave fodder to the donkeys. They washed their feet and ate and drank.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the corrupt and perverted men of the city surrounded the house, and they beat on the door. They shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 But the owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my brothers, I beg you, do not be so wicked! Since this man has come into my house, don’t do this disgraceful thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can ravish them or do whatever you want to do to them. But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them. They raped her and abused her all through the night until the morning, and at daybreak they let her go. 26 Then as the day was dawning, the woman made her way back to where her master was, and she fell down at the door of the man’s house and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, there was the woman, his concubine, lying at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up, and let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on the donkey and set out for home.
29 When he entered his house, he took a knife and cut up his concubine into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever been done or seen since the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day! Think about it, discuss it, and tell us what we should do!”