Judges 19 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Back in those days when there was no king in Israel, a Levite man living in the remote hill country of Ephraim took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.

But his concubine became furious with him and left, going back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there for four months.

Her husband went after her to persuade her to come back. He brought his servant and a pair of donkeys with him. She brought him into her father's house, and when her father saw him, he was glad to meet him.

His father-in-law, the woman's father, persuaded him to stay, and he remained with him for three days. They ate and drank and spent the night there.

On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and the Levite prepared to leave. But the woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Have some food first to keep your strength up, and then you can go."

So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. Then the woman's father said to the man, "Please — stay another night and enjoy yourself."

The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law pressured him, so he stayed and spent the night there again.

On the fifth day, he got up early to leave, and the woman's father said, "Come on, eat something first — wait until the afternoon." So the two of them ate together.

When the man got up to leave — him, his concubine, and his servant — his father-in-law, the woman's father, said to him, "Look, the day is almost over. It's getting late. Stay the night. The day is winding down — spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early and head home."

But the man refused to stay another night. He got up and left, arriving near Jebus — that's Jerusalem — with his pair of saddled donkeys, his concubine, and his servant.

When they were near Jebus and the day was nearly gone, the servant said to his master, "Let's turn off here into this Jebusite city and spend the night."

But his master said to him, "No, we're not turning into a city of foreigners — people who aren't Israelites. We'll push on to Gibeah."

He said to his servant, "Let's try to reach either Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those."

So they kept going, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin.

They turned off there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. The man went in and sat down in the town square, but nobody offered to take them in for the night.

Then an old man came in from working in the fields that evening. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim but was living in Gibeah — though the locals were Benjaminites.

He looked up and saw the traveler in the town square. The old man asked, "Where are you going, and where are you coming from?"

The Levite said to him, "We're traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim — that's where I'm from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I'm heading to the house of Yahweh. But nobody here has taken us in.

We've got straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me, your female servant, and the young man traveling with us. We don't need anything — just a place to stay."

The old man said, "You're welcome at my place. I'll take care of whatever you need. Just don't spend the night in the square."

So he brought them into his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet, and then ate and drank.

While they were relaxing, suddenly the men of the city — worthless, depraved men — surrounded the house and started pounding on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came into your house so we can have sex with him."

The man who owned the house went out to them and said, "No, my brothers, please don't do this terrible thing. This man is a guest in my house. Don't commit this outrage."

"Look — here's my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out. Violate them, do whatever you want to them. But don't commit this outrage against this man."

But the men wouldn't listen to him. So the Levite grabbed his concubine and shoved her outside to them. They raped her and brutalized her all night long until morning. When dawn broke, they let her go.

At dawn the woman came back and collapsed at the door of the man's house where her master was, and lay there until it was light.

Her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to continue on his way — and there was his concubine, collapsed at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.

He said to her, "Get up. Let's go." But there was no answer. So he put her on the donkey, and the man set out for home.

When he got home, he took a knife, seized his concubine's body, and cut her — limb by limb — into twelve pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout the entire territory of Israel.

Everyone who saw it said, "Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt until today. Think about it! Talk about it! Decide what to do!"