Old/New Testament
19 During this period, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite from the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim had a mistress[a] from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she was unfaithful to him and returned home to her father in Bethlehem in Judah, and was away from the Levite for four months. 3 Then he went after her, to speak kindly with her and convince her to come home with him. He brought his servant and two donkeys with him. When the Levite reached her father’s house, the woman’s father saw him and went joyfully out to welcome him and brought him into the house.
4 Her father made him stay for three days, so the Levite stayed there, eating and drinking. 5 On the fourth day, they got up early to prepare to leave.
The Woman’s Father: What’s your hurry? Have something to eat, build up your strength, and then you can go.
6 So the two men ate and drank.
The Woman’s Father: Why don’t you stay another night and enjoy yourself?
7 When the Levite got up to go, his mistress’s father kept urging him to stay, so, at last, he did.
8 On the fifth day, they got up early to prepare to leave.
The Woman’s Father: What’s your hurry? Have something to eat; build up your strength this morning. Wait and leave this afternoon.
So the two men sat, eating and drinking.
9 When the Levite, his mistress, and his servant got up to go, the woman’s father tried to persuade them.
The Woman’s Father: Look, it’s almost evening. The day is almost gone. Why don’t you stay another night and enjoy yourself? Tomorrow you can rise early and begin your trip home.
10 But the Levite did not want to stay another night; he gathered them, and they set out. They reached the city of the Jebusites (the city we call Jerusalem), riding on donkeys. 11 When they were near the city of the Jebusites, the day was almost done.
Servant: Let’s spend the night here in this city of the Jebusites.
Levite: 12 No, we won’t stop here in this city of foreigners, people who are not of Israel, but we’ll travel on to Gibeah. 13 Let’s see if we can reach one of those towns and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.
14 So they traveled on, and the sun set as they were at Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. 15 They turned off the road, with the intention of staying the night, and went to sit in the city square yet no one invited the Levite and his party home to spend the night.
As was the social custom in antiquity, hospitality is a significant mark of honor. Likewise inhospitality is a significant mark of social shame.
16 At last, after evening fell, an old man coming in from his work in the fields noticed them. He was not of the people of Benjamin, but a man from the hill country of Ephraim who was living in Gibeah. 17 The old man saw them sitting there in the square.
Old Man: Where are you going? Where are you from?
Levite: 18 We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the far parts of the hill country of Ephraim. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am returning to my home. No one yet has offered us hospitality. 19 We, your servants, have straw and food for the donkeys, and we also have bread and wine, enough for me, my mistress, and my young servant. We don’t require anything else.
Old Man: 20 Peace be with you. I will take care of everything you need, but do not spend the night in the square.
21 The old man took them home and fed their donkeys. They washed the dust of the road from their feet, ate, and drank. 22 While they were eating and drinking, the men of the city, an evil assembly, surrounded the house and began beating on the door. They called to the owner.
Men of the City: Bring out your guest, the man whom you have welcomed into your house. We want to have sexual relations with him!
Old Man (pleading with them): 23 I beg you. Don’t do this wicked thing to the traveler I have welcomed into my care. 24 I have a virgin daughter, and this man has a mistress. I will bring them out to you to do what you want with them, but don’t dishonor my guest with your wickedness.
25 The men would not listen. At last the Levite seized his mistress and pushed her outside. They raped her repeatedly and abused her all night long until the sun came up, when they left her alone. 26 Then the woman crept to the doorway of the house where her master had spent the night. She collapsed and lay there as the sun rose in the sky. 27 Her master, at last, woke and rose; and when he went to the door to prepare to go on his way, there was his mistress, lying near the doorway, her hands on the threshold.
Levite: 28 Get up. It’s time for us to go.
But she could not answer him. He put her body on the donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached his house, he went in and found a knife. Then holding her firmly, he cut her body up into twelve pieces, cut her limb from limb, and these he sent throughout Israel. 30 And as the pieces were received, anyone who saw this horrible display said, “Nothing like this outrage has ever happened in Israel since we came up from the land of Egypt. Think about it, weigh it carefully, and decide what to do.”
Certainly the “outrage” the Israelites are reacting to is the Levite’s brutal dismemberment of the woman. Why would someone slaughter a woman and send her parts across the country? What is the meaning behind this heinous crime?
Once they hear the Levite’s story of his attack by the Benjaminites, the community of Israel supports the Levite and holds Benjamin accountable for the Gibean men’s wicked actions. When all the tribes come to the aid of the Levite, we see an Israel that is united—against Benjamin. This story lays the groundwork for our understanding of relations between the tribes as Israel enters the monarchical period. Saul, the first king and a Benjaminite, will abandon the laws of his God and will be replaced by David from Judah, who has the support of the rest of Israel.
20 All the people of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the people who dwelt beyond the Jordan River in Gilead, gathered as one before the Eternal at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of every tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves to the assembly, to the 400,000 soldiers armed for war. 3 (And the people of Benjamin heard that the other tribes had gathered at Mizpah.)
Israelites: Tell us, what happened to bring about this criminal act?
Levite (standing in front of the assembly): 4 I arrived in Gibeah in Benjamin with my mistress. We only wanted to spend the night, 5 but the leaders of the city came to the house where we were staying and surrounded it, wanting to attack me. They intended to kill me, but they raped my mistress until she died. 6 So I took her body and cut her into pieces and sent her throughout our land that is Israel’s inheritance so that everyone could know what an outrage the men of Gibeah have committed! 7 So now, you people of Israel, I am looking to you for counsel. What should we do?
Not only is this act an outrage against the custom of hospitality in that day, but it is a gross violation of the life of another human being.
Israelites (standing together): 8 We will not return to our tents, and we will not go home to our houses, 9 but this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will cast lots to choose who will go into battle against it. 10 We will also choose 10 men from every 100 throughout Israel, 100 of every 1,000, and 1,000 of every 10,000 to bring provisions for the troops who will go to repay the disgrace done by Gibeah of Benjamin against the rest of Israel.
11 So all the people of Israel gathered against Gibeah, united in their judgment, intent on action.
12 The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the land of Benjamin.
Messengers: Do you know what has happened? What about this crime that has been committed among you? 13 Turn over those perverted men from Gibeah so we can put them to death and cleanse this evil from Israel!
But the people of Benjamin would not listen to their kinsmen, the other tribes of Israel. 14 The Benjaminites gathered together, out of their towns, to Gibeah to go to battle against the rest of Israel. 15-16 They gathered a force of 26,000 armed men, in addition to the men of Gibeah, all of them worthy fighting men. Seven hundred of these were left-handed warriors who could sling a stone so accurately that they could hit any target, no matter how small.
17 Opposing them were the forces of Israel, 400,000 warriors strong.
18 The people of Israel went up to Bethel to ask of the True God who should press the first day’s attack.
Israelites: What tribe should lead us in battle against Benjamin?
God: Judah shall lead the attack.
19 The people of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah, 20 where they went into battle against the warriors of Benjamin. 21 That first day the warriors of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and won a great victory, striking down 22,000 warriors of Israel.
23 The people of Israel presented themselves before the Eternal and wept until evening came. They laid before Him the question:
Israelites: Should we go back into battle tomorrow against our kin, the Benjaminites?
Eternal One: Yes. Go back into battle.
22 The warriors of Israel took courage and drew up their battle lines where they had been at the beginning of the fight on the first day.[b] 24-25 In obedience to God, for a second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites. But the warriors of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, struck down 18,000 warriors of Israel, and won another great victory.
26 So all the people of Israel, all the warriors, went back to Bethel to weep before the Eternal. They fasted until evening came, and then they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings before the Eternal. 27 Again the Israelites questioned the Eternal (for in those days, the covenant chest was still with them, 28 and the priest Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it.)
Israelites: Should we go back again into battle against our kin, the Benjaminites, or should we give up?
Eternal One: Go up again. Tomorrow I will give you victory.
29 So the warriors of Israel changed their strategy and secretly stationed warriors around Gibeah, ready to ambush the Benjaminites. 30 The third day they lined up as before and went into battle against Gibeah. 31 When the warriors of Benjamin came out, they were drawn away from the city. As before, they began to draw blood, striking down their foes along the main roads (one of which goes to Bethel, the other back to Gibeah) as well as in the open country. About 30 men of Israel fell, 32 and the warriors of Benjamin thought they would succeed again.
Benjaminites: This is just like the first time! We’re going to destroy the Israelites today just as we did earlier.
But the Israelites were following a new plan: they began to retreat to draw the Benjaminites farther away from the city toward the roads. 33 So the majority of Israelite troops pulled back to a line at Baal-tamar, while the hidden group waiting in ambush rushed out of their hiding place on the plain in Maareh-geba. 34 Then 10,000 of the hardiest Israelite warriors rushed against Gibeah. The battle was a fierce one, and the warriors of Benjamin did not realize that their end was near. 35 For the Eternal defeated Benjamin that day before the people of Israel, who killed 25,100 of them, almost all their men at arms. 36-37 Then the people of Benjamin realized their crushing defeat.
The warriors of Israel had retreated before their foes, trusting the men lying in ambush who had rushed upon Gibeah and destroyed the entire city. 38 Their plan was that when the ambushers sent a cloud of smoke from the city, 39 the main force would turn on the pursuing warriors of Benjamin, thinking that since they had already slain 30 men and the warriors of Israel were retreating, they were going to be victorious over them again.
40 But the Benjaminites were surprised. The Israelite warriors who entered Gibeah sent up a towering column of smoke; and the warriors of Benjamin turned around to see their refuge, the entire city, burning! 41 The main force of Israel turned and began attacking fiercely, and the warriors of Benjamin lost heart, for their doom was upon them. 42-43 They ran from the warriors of Israel toward the wilderness, but they were caught, both from behind and by the victorious soldiers emerging from the ruined Gibeah.
The slaughter continued from Nohah to the east of Gibeah, 44 and 18,000 courageous warriors fell. 45 Of those who turned and fled in the direction of the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, 5,000 of those were slain on the main road and another 2,000 were pursued as far as Gidom. 46 So in all, the people of Benjamin suffered the loss of 25,000 fighting men, all of them courageous warriors.
47 Six hundred of them survived; they had fled to the rock of Rimmon, where they remained for four months. 48 In the meantime, the warriors of Israel had done their best to destroy the people of Benjamin, killing them, destroying their livestock, and burning every city and town they encountered.
21 One thing the people of Israel had sworn in their council at Mizpah was that no tribe would give wives to the men of Benjamin. 2 The people returned to Bethel, house of God, and there they cried out and wept bitterly before the True God until evening.
Israelites: 3 Why, Eternal One, True God of Israel, has this happened? Why do we have one less Israelite tribe today?
4 The next day, the people rose early and built an altar, and they made sacrifices and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Israelites: 5 What tribe, of all of the tribes of Israel, did not come up to the assembly of the Eternal at Mizpah?
For they had also taken a solemn oath that whoever did not come before the Eternal at Mizpah would be put to death.
6 The people of Israel were moved with pity toward their kin, the tribe of Benjamin.
Israelites: Look, one tribe of Israel has been cut off from the rest of us. 7 How can the survivors of Benjamin get wives, since we have all sworn by the Eternal not to give them our daughters? 8 Are there any of the tribes of Israel that did not come up before the Eternal at Mizpah?
And it turned out that nobody from Jabesh-gilead had come up to the assembly; 9 when the roll was called throughout the camp, none from Jabesh-gilead were present.
10-11 So those gathered there commissioned 12,000 courageous fighting men to go and destroy Jabesh-gilead. “Kill them all,” they instructed, “every man, every woman who has been with a man, every child.” 12 They found 400 virgins among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, and they returned these to the camp of Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 13 Then those gathered sent word to those warriors of Benjamin in exile at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed a peace. 14 The men of Benjamin returned, and the people of Israel gave them the young women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for all of them.
15 The people of Israel were filled with pity for the people of Benjamin, since the Eternal had separated them from their brothers of Israel.
Israelite Elders: 16 What can we do to find more wives for the remaining men of Benjamin, since all the other Benjaminite women were destroyed? 17 Benjamin must have heirs and survive, so that not a single tribe may disappear out of Israel. 18 But we cannot give them our daughters, for we have sworn curses on anyone of us who gives wives to the men of Benjamin.
Israelites: 19 Look, there is a yearly festival of the Eternal in Shiloh, north of Bethel, to the east of the road that links Bethel to Shechem and to the south of Lebonah.
20 They told the Benjaminites to go and hide in the vineyards.
Israelites: 21 Watch, and when the young women of Shiloh come out to participate in the dances, dash out, grab yourself a wife, and take her back home to Benjamin. 22 Then if their brothers or fathers come to complain to us, we can say, “Be generous. We weren’t able to capture enough brides for the men of Benjamin, so we needed more women. But none of you suffers the curse, since you didn’t give your daughters of your own free will!”
23 So that is what the men of Benjamin did: they kidnapped wives for themselves from the dancers at the festival and took them back home, where they rebuilt their towns and lived in them again. 24 And the people of Israel went out from their great gathering by their families and tribes, each back to their inheritances.
25 During that period, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what seemed right to them.
Jesus: 31 The people of this generation—what are they like? To what can they be compared? 32 I’ll tell you: they’re like spoiled kids sitting in the marketplace playing games, calling out,
We played the pipes for you,
but you didn’t dance to our tune!
We cried like mourners,
but you didn’t cry with us!
33 You can’t win with this generation. John the Baptist comes along, fasting and abstaining from wine, and you say, “This guy is demon-possessed!” 34 The Son of Man comes along, feasting and drinking wine, and you say, “This guy is a glutton and a drunk, a friend of scoundrels and tax collectors!” 35 Well, wisdom’s true children know wisdom when they hear it.
36-40 Once a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to be a guest for a meal.
Picture this:
Just as Jesus enters the man’s home and takes His place at the table, a woman from the city—notorious as a woman of ill repute—follows Him in. She has heard that Jesus will be at the Pharisee’s home, so she comes in and approaches Him, carrying an alabaster flask of perfumed oil. Then she begins to cry, she kneels down so her tears fall on Jesus’ feet, and she starts wiping His feet with her own hair. Then she actually kisses His feet, and she pours the perfumed oil on them.
Simon (thinking): Now I know this guy is a fraud. If He were a real prophet, He would have known this woman is a sinner and He would never let her get near Him, much less touch Him . . . or kiss Him!
Jesus (knowing what the Pharisee is thinking): Simon, I want to tell you a story.
Simon: Tell me, Teacher.
Jesus: 41 Two men owed a certain lender a lot of money. One owed 100 weeks’ wages, and the other owed 10 weeks’ wages. 42 Both men defaulted on their loans, but the lender forgave them both. Here’s a question for you: which man will love the lender more?
Simon: 43 Well, I guess it would be the one who was forgiven more.
Jesus: Good answer.
44-46 Now Jesus turns around so He’s facing the woman, although He’s still speaking to Simon.
Jesus: Do you see this woman here? It’s kind of funny. I entered your home, and you didn’t provide a basin of water so I could wash the road dust from My feet. You didn’t give Me a customary kiss of greeting and welcome. You didn’t offer Me the common courtesy of providing oil to brighten My face. But this woman has wet My feet with her own tears and washed them with her own hair. She hasn’t stopped kissing My feet since I came in. And she has applied perfumed oil to My feet. 47 This woman has been forgiven much, and she is showing much love. But the person who has shown little love shows how little forgiveness he has received.
48 (to the woman) Your sins are forgiven.
Simon and Friends (muttering among themselves): 49 Who does this guy think He is? He has the audacity to claim the authority to forgive sins?
Jesus (to the woman): 50 Your faith has liberated you. Go in peace.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.