1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite man residing 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 at Bethlehem in Judah, and she was there for a period of four months.
3Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak to her heart, to bring her back, with his servant and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father’s house, and when the young woman’s father saw him, he was glad to meet him.
4His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, held on to him, and he stayed with him three days; they ate and drank and lodged 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, “Sustain your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you may go.”
6So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together, and the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.”
7When the man rose to go, his father-in-law pressed him, so he stayed and lodged there again.
8He rose early in the morning on the fifth day to go, but the young woman’s father said, “Please sustain your heart.” So they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate.
9When the man rose to go, he and his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look now, the day has grown weak toward evening; please stay the night. See, the day is drawing to a close—lodge here and let your heart be merry. Then tomorrow you can rise early for your journey and go home to your tent.”
10But the man was not willing to stay the night; he rose and departed and came opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), and with him were a pair of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him.
11They were near Jebus, and the day was far gone. The servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.”
12But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside to a foreign city that does not belong to the Israelites; we will pass on to Gibeah.”
13He said to his servant, “Come, let us approach one of these places, and we will lodge in Gibeah or in Ramah.”
14So they passed on and went, and the sun set on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.
15They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but there was no one who took them into his house to lodge.
16And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field in the evening. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjaminites.
17He lifted up his eyes 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 now I am going to the house of Yahweh, and there is no one who will take me into his house.
19There is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and there is also bread and wine for me and for your maidservant and for the young man with your servants; there is no lack of anything.
20The old man said, “Peace to you! Only let all your needs be my concern; only do not spend the night in the square.”
21So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. 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, beating on the door, and they said to the man, the owner of the house, the old man, “Bring out the man who came into your house, so that we may know him.”
23The man, the owner 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 commit this outrage.
24Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. 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 would not listen to him, so the man seized his concubine and put her out to them, outside. They knew her and abused her all night until the morning, and let her go at the rising of the dawn.
26The woman came at the turning of the morning and fell down at the entrance of the man’s house, where her master was, until it was light.
27Her master rose in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went out to go on his way—and behold, the woman, his concubine, was fallen 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. So he took her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went to his place.
29When he came into his house, he took the knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her up, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.
30And it came about that everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has happened or been seen from the day the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, take counsel, and speak!”
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