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19 Also in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite dwelt on the side of Mount Ephraim and took as a wife a concubine out of Bethlehem, Judah.
2 And his concubine played the whore there and went away from him to her father’s house, to Bethlehem, Judah, and continued there for the space of four months.
3 And her husband arose and went after her, to speak friendly to her, and to bring her back. He also had his servant with him and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him to her father’s house. And when the young woman’s father saw him, he rejoiced at his coming.
4 And his father-in-law (the young woman’s father) received him. And he stayed with him for three days. So, they ate and drank and lodged there.
5 And when the fourth day came, they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to depart. Then, the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Comfort your heart with a morsel of bread, and then go your way.”
6 So, they sat down and ate and drank, both of them together. And the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please, be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.”
7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him. Therefore, he returned and lodged there.
8 And he arose up early the fifth day to depart. And the young woman’s father said, “Please, comfort your heart.” And they stayed until after midday, and they both ate.
9 Afterward, when the man arose to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law (the young woman’s father) said to him, “Behold now, the day draws toward evening. Please, stay all night. Behold, the Sun goes to rest. Lodge here, so that your heart may be merry. And tomorrow get on your way early and go to the tent.”
10 But the man would not stay, but arose and departed, and came over opposite Jebus (which is Jerusalem). And his two donkeys, laden, and his concubine were with him.
11 When they were near Jebus, the day was well-spent and the servant said to his master, “Please come and let us turn to this city of the Jebusites and lodge there all night.”
12 And his master answered him, “We will not turn into the city of strangers who are not of the children of Israel. But we will go forth to Gibeah.”
13 And he said to his servant, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places, so that we may lodge in Gibeah or in Ramah.”
14 So they went forward on their way. And the Sun went down upon them near Gibeah, which is in Benjamin.
15 Then, they turned there to go in and lodge in Gibeah. And when he came, he sat down in a street of the city, for there was no man who would take them into his house to lodge.
16 And behold, at evening, there came an old man from his work, out of the field. And the man was from Mount Ephraim but dwelt in Gibeah. And the men of that place were the children of Jemini.
17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the streets of the city. Then, this old man said, “Where are you going and from where did you come?”
18 And he answered him, “We came from Bethlehem, Judah, to the side of Mount Ephraim. I am from there. And I went to Bethlehem, Judah, and go to the House of the LORD. And no man has received me into his house,
19 “though we have straw and provender for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me and your handmaid, and for the boy who is with your servant. We lack nothing.”
20 And the old man said, “Peace be with you. As for all that you lack, you shall find it with me. Only, do not stay in the street all night.”
21 So, he brought him into his house and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank.
22 And as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, wicked men, surrounded the house and struck at the door and spoke to this old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring forth the man who came into your house, so that we may know him!”
23 And this man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, “No, my brethren! Please do not do so wickedly, seeing that this man has come into my house. Do not do this villainy!
24 “Behold, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his concubine! I will bring them out now. Humble them and do with them what seems good to you. But do not do this villainy to this man!”
25 But the men would not listen to him. Therefore, the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And when the day began to spring, they let her go.
26 So the woman came, in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, until the light of day.
27 And her lord arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way. And behold, the woman, his concubine, was dead at the door of the house, her hands upon the threshold.
28 And he said to her, “Up! And let us go!” But she did not answer. Then he took her up upon the donkey. And the man rose up and went to his place.
29 And when he had come to his house, he took a knife and laid hands on his concubine and divided her in pieces, with her bones, into twelve parts, and sent her through all quarters of Israel.
30 And all who saw it, said, “There was no such thing done or seen since the time that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider the matter, consult and give sentence!”
20 Then all the children of Israel went out. And the Congregation was gathered together with the land of Gilead before the LORD in Mizpah, as one man, from Dan to Beersheba.
2 And the chief of all the people, and all the tribes of Israel, assembled four hundred thousand footmen who drew sword from the Congregation of the people of God.
3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) Then, the children of Israel said, “How did this wickedness happen?”
4 And the same Levite, the husband of the woman who was slain, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah, which is in Benjamin, with my concubine, to lodge.
5 “And the men of Gibeah arose against me and surrounded the house by night, intending to kill me. But instead, they afflicted my concubine so that now she is dead.
6 “Then I took my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed abomination and villainy in Israel.
7 “Behold, you are all children of Israel. Give your advice and counsel in this.”
8 Then all the people arose as one man, saying, “Not one of us shall go to his tent, nor any turn into his house.
9 “But now, this is that thing which we will do to Gibeah: We will go up, by lot, against it;
10 “and we will take ten men out of a hundred, throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, so that when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin they may do according to all the villainy that it has done in Israel.”
11 So, all the men of Israel were gathered opposite the city, knit together as one man.
12 And the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What wickedness is this that is committed among you?
13 “Now, therefore, deliver to us those wicked men who are in Gibeah, so that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel!” But the children of Benjamin would not obey the voice of their brethren, the children of Israel.
14 Rather, the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together in Gibeah, from out of their cities, to come and fight against the children of Israel.
15 And the children of Benjamin from out of the cities were numbered at that time, twenty-six thousand men who drew sword (in addition to the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were numbered at seven hundred chosen men).
16 Of all these people, seven hundred chosen men were left-handed and could sling stones at a hair’s breadth, and not fail.
17 And the men of Israel, besides Benjamin, were numbered at four hundred thousand men who drew sword, all men of war.
18 And the children of Israel arose and went up to the House of God and asked of God, saying, “Which of us shall go up first to fight against the children of Benjamin?” And the LORD said, “Judah first.”
19 Then the children of Israel arose up early and camped near Gibeah.
20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin. And the men of Israel put themselves in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
21 And the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and cut down to the ground of the Israelites that day, twenty-two thousand men.
22 And the people, the men of Israel, plucked up their hearts, and set themselves in battle formation again, in the same place where they had put themselves in formation on the first day.
23 (For the children of Israel had gone up and wept before the LORD until the evening, and had asked of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go back to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brethren?” And the LORD said, “Go up against them.”)
24 Then the children of Israel came near, against the children of Benjamin, on the second day.
25 Also the second day, Benjamin came forth to meet them out of Gibeah, and, again, cut down to the ground eighteen thousand men of the children of Israel. All of them could handle the sword.
26 Then all the children of Israel went up. And all the people also came to the House of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted on that day until the evening, and offered Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings before the LORD.
27 And the children of Israel asked the LORD (for there was the Ark of the Covenant of God in those days,
28 and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it at that time) saying, “Shall I continue to go to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brethren, or shall I cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up. For tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
29 And Israel set men to lie in wait all around Gibeah.
30 And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in formation against Gibeah, as at other times.
31 Then the children of Benjamin, coming out against the people, were drawn from the city. And they began to strike of the people and kill as at other times, by the roads in the field (of which one goes up to the House of God and the other to Gibeah) upon about thirty men of Israel.
32 (For the children of Benjamin said, “They have fallen before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways).
33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and put themselves in formation at Baal Tamar. And the men of the Israelites who lay in wait came forth from their place, out of the meadows of Geba.
34 And they came over near Gibeah, ten thousand chosen men of all Israel. And the battle was fierce, for the Benjamites did not know that calamity was upon them.
35 And the LORD struck Benjamin before Israel. And that same day, the children of Israel destroyed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of the Benjamites, all who could handle the sword.
36 So the children of Benjamin saw that they were stricken down. For the men of Israel gave ground to the Benjamites because they trusted the men who lay in wait, whom they had laid beside Gibeah.
37 And those who lay in wait hurried and broke forth toward Gibeah, and the ambushers spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword.
38 Also, the men of Israel had appointed a certain time with the ambushers, that they would make a great flame and smoke would arise up out of the city.
39 And when the men of Israel turned in the battle, Benjamin began to strike and kill some of the men of Israel, about thirty people. For they said, “Surely they are stricken down before us, as in the first battle!”
40 But when the flame began to rise out of the city, a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked back, and behold, the flame of the city began to ascend up to Heaven.
41 Then the men of Israel turned back; and the men of Benjamin were astonished. For they saw that calamity was upon them.
42 Therefore, they fled before the men of Israel, to the way of the wilderness. But the battle overtook them. Also, those who came out of the cities killed them in the midst of them.
43 Thus they surrounded the Benjamites, chasing them down and easily catching them opposite Gibeah, on the eastern side.
44 And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin were killed, all men of war.
45 And they turned and fled to the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon. And the Israelites killed five thousand of them along the way, and pursued after them to Gidom, and killed two thousand of them,
46 so that all the men of Benjamin who were killed that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew sword, who were all men of war.
47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and stayed in the rock of Rimmon for four months.
48 Then, the men of Israel turned to the children of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, from the men of the city to the beasts, and all who came to hand. Also, they set on fire all the cities that they could find.
22 After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea and stayed there with them and baptized.
23 And John also baptized in Aenon, near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
24 For John was not yet cast into prison.
25 Then there arose a question between John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
26 And they came to John, and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, he baptizes, and all come to him.”
27 John answered, and said, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given to him from Heaven.
28 You yourselves are my witnesses, that I said, ‘I am not that Christ, but that I am sent before Him.’
29 “The One who has the bride is the Bridegroom. But the friend of the Bridegroom who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, my joy is fulfilled.
30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “The One who has come from on high is above all. The one who is from the Earth, is from the Earth, and speaks from the Earth. The One who has come from Heaven is above all.
32 “And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies. But no one receives His testimony.
33 “The one who has received His testimony, has sealed that God is true.
34 “For He Whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For God 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 everlasting life. And the one who disbelieves the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
4 Now, when the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again into Galilee.
24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom, You have made them all. The Earth is full of Your riches!
25 So great and wide is the sea; in which are innumerable creeping things, both small beasts and great.
26 Thereupon go the ships, and therein plays that Leviathan, whom You have made.
27 All these wait upon You, so that You may give them food in due season.
28 You give it to them, and they gather it. You open Your hand, and they are filled with good things.
29 If You hide Your face, they are troubled. If You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your spirit, and they are created; You renew the face of the Earth.
31 Glory be to the LORD forever. Let the LORD rejoice in His works!
32 He looks on the Earth and it trembles. He touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life. I will praise my God while I live.
34 Let my words be acceptable to Him. I will rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the Earth, and the wicked, until there are no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
22 Do not those err who imagine evil? But mercy and truth shall be to those who think on good things.
23 In all labor there is abundance. But the talk of the lips brings only want.
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