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The Concubine and the Levite
19 In those days there was no king in Israel; there was a man, a Levite, who dwelled as a foreigner[a] in the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But his concubine felt repugnance toward him,[b] and she left him and went to her father’s house, to Bethlehem in Judah; she was there some four months. 3 So her husband set out, and he went after her to speak tenderly to her,[c] to bring her back. He took with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him to her father’s house, and the father of the young woman saw him and was glad to meet him. 4 His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, urged him to stay with him three days; and they ate and drank, and they spent the night there. 5 On the fourth day, they rose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself[d] with a bit of food, and afterward you may go.” 6 So the two of them sat and ate and drank together, and the father of the young woman said to the man, “Please, agree to spend the night and enjoy yourself.”[e] 7 The man got up to go, but his father-in-law urged him, and he returned and spent the night there. 8 On the fifth day he rose early in the morning to go, and the father of the young woman said, “Please, enjoy yourself,”[f] and they lingered until the day declined, and the two of them ate. 9 And the man got up to go—he, his concubine, and his servant—but his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, “Please, the day has worn on to evening; please, spend the night, the day has drawn to a close. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself.[g] You can rise early tomorrow for your journey and go to your home.”[h]
10 But the man was not willing to spend the night, and he got up and went; and he arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. 11 They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent,[i] and the servant said to his master, “Please, come, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites,[j] and let us spend the night in it.” 12 But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners,[k] who are not from the Israelites;[l] we will cross over up to Gibeah.” 13 And he said to his servant, “Come, let us approach one of these places; we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” 14 So they crossed over and went their way, and the sun went down on them beside Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. 15 And they turned aside there to enter and to spend the night at Gibeah. And they went and sat in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.[m]
16 Then behold, an old man was coming from his work from the field in the evening, and the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was dwelling as a foreigner[n] in Gibeah. (The people of the place were descendants[o] of Benjamin.) 17 And the old man raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city, and he said, “Where are you going, and from where do you come?” 18 And he said to him, “We are crossing over from Bethlehem in Judah up to the remote areas of the hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but now I am going to Yahweh’s house,[p] but no one took me in to spend the night.[q] 19 There is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, for your servant,[r] and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, “Peace to you. I will take care of your needs; however, you must not spend the night in the open square.” 21 So he brought him to his house, and he fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, ate, and drank.
22 While they were enjoying themselves,[s] behold, the men of the city, the perverse lot,[t] surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we may have sex with him.”[u] 23 So the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful thing. 24 Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please, let me bring them out; do violence to them,[v] and do to them whatever you please.[w] Do not do this disgraceful thing to this man.” 25 But the men were not willing to listen to him, and the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them; and they had intercourse with her, and they abused her all night until the morning; they let her go at the approach of dawn. 26 And the woman came as the morning appeared, and she fell at the entrance of the man’s house where her master was, until daylight.[x]
27 In the morning her master got up, and he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his journey, and behold, his concubine was falling[y] at the entrance of the house, with her hand on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up, let us go,” but there was no answer. So he put her on the donkey, and the man got up and went to his place. 29 When he entered his house he took a knife, and he grasped his concubine and cut her into twelve pieces; and he sent her throughout the whole territory of Israel. 30 All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever been since the Israelites[z] went up from the land of Egypt until this day. Take note of it, consider it, and speak up.”
The Punishment of Benjamin
20 All the Israelites[aa] went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body[ab] to Yahweh at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand sword-bearing infantry. 3 (The descendants[ac] of Benjamin heard that the Israelites[ad] had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites[ae] said, “Tell us, how did this evil act occur?” 4 The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 The lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 Then I grabbed my concubine and cut her into pieces, and I sent her throughout all the territory of Israel’s inheritance; for they committed a shameful and disgraceful thing in Israel. 7 Look, all you Israelites![af] Make your decision[ag] and advice here.”
8 All the people got up as one body,[ah] saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, or will any of us return to his house. 9 So then, this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against her by lot. 10 We will take ten men of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions to the troops, to repay them when they come to Gibeah[ai] of Benjamin for all the disgraceful things[aj] they did in Israel.” 11 And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one body[ak] united.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that happened among you? 13 So then, hand over the men, the perverse lot,[al] who are in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge this wickedness from Israel.” But the descendants[am] of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives,[an] the Israelites.[ao] 14 And the descendants[ap] of Benjamin were gathered from the cities to Gibeah to go out for battle against the Israelites.[aq] 15 From the cities the descendants[ar] of Benjamin were counted on that day twenty-six thousand sword-wielding men,[as] besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were counted seven hundred well-trained[at] men. 16 From all these troops were seven hundred well-trained[au] men who were left-handed;[av] each one could sling with a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted four hundred thousand sword-wielding men;[aw] all were warriors.[ax]
18 Then the Israelites[ay] got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, “Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants[az] of Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go first.” 19 And the Israelites[ba] got up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah. 20 Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them for battle at Gibeah. 21 The descendants[bb] of Benjamin went out from Gibeah, and they struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground. 22 But the troops, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves,[bc] and again they arranged their battle lines in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day. 23 The Israelites[bd] went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants[be] of Benjamin, our relatives?”[bf] And Yahweh said, “Go up against them.”[bg]
24 And the Israelites[bh] drew near to the descendants[bi] of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and they struck down the Israelites[bj] again, eighteen thousand men to the ground; all of these were sword-wielding.[bk] 26 And all the Israelites[bl] and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh. 27 And the Israelites[bm] inquired of Yahweh (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing before it[bn] to minister in those days), saying, “Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants[bo] of Benjamin our relatives,[bp] or should we stop?” And Yahweh said, “Go up tomorrow; I will give them[bq] into your hand.”
29 So Israel stationed an ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the Israelites[br] went up against the descendants[bs] of Benjamin on the third day, and they took up positions against Gibeah as before. 31 The descendants[bt] of Benjamin went out to meet the troops, and they lured them away from the city and began to inflict casualties on the troops as before, on the main road, one of which goes up to Bethel, the other to Gibeah; and in the field there were about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the descendants[bu] of Benjamin thought,[bv] “They are being defeated before us as previously,”[bw] and the Israelites[bx] said, “Let us flee and lure them[by] away from the city to the main roads.” 33 And all the men of Israel got up from their places[bz] and took up positions in Baal Tamar; and the ambush of Israel charged from their places,[ca] from the vicinity of Gibeah.[cb] 34 Then ten thousand well-trained[cc] men from all Israel came out against Gibeah, and the battle became fierce;[cd] they did not know that disaster was about to close in[ce] on them. 35 And Yahweh defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and the Israelites[cf] destroyed on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them sword-wielding.[cg]
36 The descendants[ch] of Benjamin saw that they were defeated, and the men of Israel gave ground[ci] to Benjamin because they trusted the ambush that they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the ambush came quickly and advanced against Gibeah, and it put the whole city to the sword.[cj] 38 Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city. 39 And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to inflict casualties on about thirty men of Israel because they thought,[ck] “They will be completely defeated before us as in the first battle.” 40 And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke![cl] 41 And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was closing in[cm] on them. 42 And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and those who came from the cities[cn] destroyed them in the midst of them. 43 They surrounded Benjamin; they pursued them[co] without rest[cp] and trod them[cq] down opposite Gibeah to the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men from Benjamin fell, all of them able men.[cr] 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, but they cut down on the main roads five thousand men; and they pursued after them up to Gidom, and they struck down two thousand men. 46 So all of Benjamin who fell on that day were twenty-five thousand sword-wielding men;[cs] all of these were able men.[ct] 47 But six hundred turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel returned to the descendants[cu] of Benjamin, and they put them to the edge of the sword,[cv] both the inhabitants of city and the animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.
Additional Testimony by John the Baptist About Jesus
22 After these things Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing. 23 Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and they were coming and were being baptized. 24 (For John had not yet been thrown into prison.)
25 So a dispute occurred on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew[a] concerning purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!”
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive not one thing unless it is granted to him from heaven! 28 You yourselves testify about me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am sent before that one.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly[b] because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease.”
31 The one who comes from above is over all. The one who is from the earth is from the earth and speaks from the earth; the one who comes from heaven is over all. 32 What he has seen and heard, this he testifies, and no one accepts his testimony. 33 The one who accepts his testimony has attested that God is true. 34 For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life—but the wrath of God remains on him.[c]
The Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well
4 Now when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.
24 How many are your works, O Yahweh;
all of them you have done in wisdom.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 This is the great and wide[a] sea,
in which are moving animals without number,
living things small and great.
26 There the ships sail.
Leviathan is there that you formed to play with.[b]
27 They all wait for you
to give them their food at the proper time.[c]
28 You give to them; they gather it.
You open your hand, they are filled with what is good.
29 You hide your face, they are terrified.
You take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30 You send forth your Spirit,[d] they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of Yahweh endure forever.
May Yahweh be glad in his works,
32 the one who looks at the earth and it quakes,
and touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I remain alive.[e]
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him.
I will be glad in Yahweh.
35 Let sinners perish completely from the earth,
and the wicked not remain alive.[f]
Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
Praise Yah.[g]
22 Have they not erred, those who plan evil?
But loyalty and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.
23 In all toil, there is profit,
but the talk[a] of lips leads only to poverty.
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