A Levite’s Concubine Degraded

19 Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite ^[a]staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. ² But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her to speak ^[b]tenderly to her in order to bring her back, ^[c]taking with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he was glad to meet 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 lodged there. ⁵ Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he ^[d]prepared to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Sustain ^[e]yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.” ⁶ So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷ Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him so that he spent the night there again. ⁸ On the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain ^[f]yourself, and wait until ^[g]afternoon”; so both of them ate. ⁹ When the man arose to go along with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn ^[h]to a close; please spend the night. Lo, the day is ^[i]coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go ^[j]home.”

¹⁰ But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and departed and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone; and the servant said to his master, “Please come, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; but we will go on as far as Gibeah.” ¹³ He said to his servant, “Come and let us approach one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵ They turned aside there in order to enter and lodge in Gibeah. When ^[k]they entered, ^[l]they sat down in the open square of the city, for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Then behold, an old man was coming out of the field from his work at evening. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was ^[m]staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷ And he 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?” ¹⁸ He said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, for I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to ^[n]my house, and no man will take me into his house. ¹⁹ Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, ^[o]your maidservant, and the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ The old man said, “Peace to you. Only let me take care of all your needs; however, do not spend the night in the open square.” ²¹ So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² While they were ^[p]celebrating, behold, the men of the city, certain ^[q]worthless fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may have ^[r]relations with him.” ²³ Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not commit this act of folly. ²⁴ Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please let me bring them out that you may ravish them and do to them ^[s]whatever you wish. But do not commit such an act of folly against this man.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they raped her and abused her all night until morning, then let her go at the approach of dawn. ^26 [t]As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.

²⁷ When her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, then behold, his concubine was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up and let us go,” but there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his ^[u]home. ²⁹ When he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. ³⁰ All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it, take counsel and speak up!”

The Ten Commandments Repeated

5 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:

“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your ^[a]hearing, that you may learn them and observe ^[b]them carefully. ² The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. ³ The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of ^[c]us alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, ⁵ while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. ^[d]He said,

⁶ ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ^[e]slavery.

⁷ ‘You shall have no other gods ^[f]before Me.

⁸ ‘You shall not make for yourself ^[g]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above ^[h]or on the earth beneath ^[i]or in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¹¹ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not ^[j]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

¹² ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who ^[k]stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

¹⁶ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.

¹⁷ ‘You shall not murder.

¹⁸ ‘You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁹ ‘You shall not steal.

²⁰ ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

²¹ ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

Moses Interceded

²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. ²⁴ You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. ²⁵ Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. ²⁶ For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ^27 [l]Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. ²⁹ Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! ³⁰ Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.’ ³² So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³³ You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.