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Benjamites Violate a Levite’s Concubine
19 Now it happened in those days, when (A)there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning 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 (B)speak to her heart in order to bring her back, and his young man was with him as well as a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and the girl’s father saw him and was glad to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5 Now it happened on the fourth day that they got up early in the morning, and he arose to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “(C)Sustain [a]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 (D)let your heart be merry.” 7 Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law pressed him so that he turned back and spent the night there. 8 And on the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain [b]yourself and wait until [c]afternoon”; so both of them ate. 9 Then the man arose to go along with his concubine and young man, and his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn [d]to a close; please spend the night. Behold, the day is [e]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 to your tent.”
10 But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and went and came to a place before (E)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him. 11 They were alongside of Jebus, and the day was almost gone. And (F)the young man said to his master, “Come, please, 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 pass on by until Gibeah.” 13 Then he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to 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 Then they turned aside there in order to enter and to spend the night in Gibeah. So [f]they entered and sat down in the open square of the city. Now no one was taking them into his house to spend the night.
16 But behold, an old man was coming from his work, from the field, at evening. Now the man was from (G)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah, but the men of the place (H)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 And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to [g]the house of Yahweh, and no man is taking me into his house. 19 Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, [h]your maidservant, and (I)the young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” 20 Then the old man said, “(J)Peace be to you. Only let me take care of all that you lack; however, do not spend the night in the open square.” 21 (K)So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.
22 They were making their hearts merry, and behold, (L)the men of the city, certain [i](M)vile 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 [j]know him.” 23 Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do evil. Since this man has come into my house, (N)do not commit this disgraceful act. 24 (O)Behold, my daughter who is a virgin, and his concubine—please let me bring them out that you may violate them and do to them whatever is good in your eyes. But do not commit such a disgraceful act against this man.” 25 But the men were not willing to listen to him. So the man took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them; and they knew her and abused her all night until morning, and they let her go at the [k]breaking of dawn. 26 [l]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 Then her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 And he said to her, “Get up and let us go,” (P)but there was no answer. Then he took her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his [m]home. 29 Then he entered his house and took a knife and took hold of his concubine and (Q)cut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. 30 And 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; (R)take counsel and speak up!”
A Battle Between Israel and Benjamin
20 Then all the sons of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, came out, and the congregation assembled as one man to Yahweh at (S)Mizpah. 2 And the [n]chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, took their stand in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 foot [o]soldiers (T)who draw the sword. 3 (Then the sons of Benjamin heard that the sons of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the sons of Israel said, “Tell us, how did this evil take place?” 4 So the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, “I came with my concubine to spend the night at Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. 5 Then the (U)men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night because of me. They intended to kill me; instead, they (V)violated my concubine, and she died. 6 And I (W)seized my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance; for (X)they have committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. 7 Behold, all you sons of Israel, (Y)give your advice and counsel here.”
8 Then all the people arose as one man, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, nor will any of us turn aside to his house. 9 But now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up against it by lot. 10 And we will take 10 men out of 100 throughout the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of 1,000, and 1,000 out of 10,000 in order to take up provisions for the people, that when they come to [p]Gibeah of Benjamin, they may do to them according to all the disgraceful acts that they have done in Israel.” 11 Thus all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united as one man.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men through the entire [q]tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this evil that has taken place among you? 13 So now, give up the men, the [r](Z)vile fellows in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and (AA)purge this evil from Israel.” But the sons of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. 14 Then the sons of Benjamin gathered from the cities to Gibeah, to go out to battle against the sons of Israel. 15 And from the cities on that day the (AB)sons of Benjamin were [s]numbered, 26,000 men who draw the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah who were [t]numbered, 700 choice men. 16 Out of all these people 700 (AC)choice men were left-handed; each one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17 And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were [u]numbered, 400,000 men who draw the sword; all these were men of war.
18 Then the sons of Israel arose, went up to Bethel, and (AD)asked of God and said, “Who shall go up for us to begin the battle against the sons of Benjamin?” Then Yahweh said, “Judah shall begin it.”
19 So the sons of Israel arose in the morning and camped against Gibeah. 20 And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel arranged themselves for battle against them at Gibeah. 21 Then the sons of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and (AE)destroyed to the ground on that day 22,000 men of Israel. 22 But the people, the men of Israel, strengthened themselves and arranged themselves for battle again in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day. 23 (AF)And the sons of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and (AG)asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall we again approach for battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Go up against him.”
24 Then the sons of Israel drew near to the sons of Benjamin the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out to meet them from Gibeah the second day and destroyed to the ground again 18,000 men of the sons of Israel; all these drew the sword. 26 Then (AH)all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before Yahweh and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh. 27 Then the sons of Israel (AI)asked of Yahweh (now the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, 28 and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, Aaron’s son, stood before it to minister in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?” And Yahweh said, “Go up, (AJ)for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”
29 (AK)So Israel set men in ambush around Gibeah. 30 And the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin on the third day and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as at other times. 31 (AL)So the sons of Benjamin went out to meet the people and were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike [v]and slay some of the people as at other times, on the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 32 The sons of Benjamin said, “They are [w]defeated before us, as at the first.” But the sons of Israel said, “Let us flee that we may draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33 Then all the men of Israel arose from their place and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar; (AM)and the men of Israel in ambush burst forth of their place, even out of Maareh-geba. 34 Then 10,000 choice men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle became heavy; (AN)but [x]Benjamin did not know that [y]calamity was [z]about to reach them. 35 Then Yahweh [aa]defeated Benjamin before Israel, so that the sons of Israel destroyed 25,100 men of Benjamin that day, all [ab]who drew the sword.
36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were [ac]defeated. (AO)Now the men of Israel had given [ad]ground to Benjamin because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah. 37 (AP)So the men in ambush hurried and rushed against Gibeah. Then the men in ambush deployed and struck all the city with the edge of the sword. 38 Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was (AQ)that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise from the city. 39 So the men of Israel had turned around in the battle, and Benjamin had begun to strike [ae]and slay about thirty men of Israel, (AR)for they said, “Surely they are [af]defeated before us, as in the first battle.” 40 But the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned (AS)behind them; and behold, the whole city was going up in smoke to heaven. 41 Then the men of Israel turned around again, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed; for they saw that [ag](AT)calamity had [ah]reached them. 42 Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel (AU)toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. 43 (AV)They surrounded Benjamin, pursued them without rest, and trod them down opposite Gibeah to the east toward the sunrise. 44 Thus 18,000 men of Benjamin fell; all these were valiant men. 45 [ai]And the rest turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of (AW)Rimmon, but they [aj]caught 5,000 of them on the highways and overtook them [ak]at Gidom and struck down 2,000 of them. 46 So all of Benjamin who fell that day were 25,000 men who drew the sword; all these were valiant men. 47 But 600 men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon four months. 48 Now the men of Israel returned to the sons of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, both the entire city with the cattle and all that they found; they also set on fire all the cities which they found.
John the Baptist’s Last Witness
22 After these things Jesus and His (A)disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and (B)baptizing. 23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for (C)John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Therefore there arose a debate between John’s disciples and a Jew about (D)purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “(E)Rabbi, He who was with you (F)beyond the Jordan, to whom you (G)have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “(H)A man can receive nothing unless it (I)has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves [a]are my witnesses that I said, ‘(J)I am not the [b]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is (K)the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this (L)joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “(M)He who comes from above is above all, (N)he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. (O)He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What He has seen and heard, of that He (P)bears witness; and (Q)no one receives His witness. 33 He who has received His witness (R)has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For He whom God has (S)sent speaks the words of God; [c](T)for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 (U)The Father loves the Son and (V)has given all things into His hand. 36 He who (W)believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who (X)does not [d]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Jesus Goes to Galilee
4 Therefore when (Y)Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and (Z)baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although (AA)Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His (AB)disciples were), 3 He left (AC)Judea and went away (AD)again into Galilee.
24 How (A)numerous are Your works, O Yahweh!
[a]In (B)wisdom You have made them all;
The (C)earth is full of Your [b]possessions.
25 This is the (D)sea, great and [c]broad,
There the creeping things are without number,
Creatures both small and great.
26 There the (E)ships move along,
And [d](F)Leviathan, which You have formed to play in it.
27 They all (G)wait for You
To (H)give them their food in [e]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (I)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (J)hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You (K)take away their [f]spirit, they breathe their last
And (L)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [g](M)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 Let the (N)glory of Yahweh endure forever;
Let Yahweh (O)be glad in His works;
32 [h]He (P)looks at the earth, and it (Q)trembles;
He (R)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [i]I will sing to Yahweh (S)throughout my life;
[j]I will (T)sing praise to my God [k]while I have my being.
34 Let my (U)musing be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (V)be glad in Yahweh.
35 Let sinners be (W)consumed from the earth
And let the (X)wicked be no more.
(Y)Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
[l](Z)Praise Yah!
22 Will they not wander in error who (A)devise evil?
But lovingkindness and truth will be to those who devise good.
23 In all painful labor there is profit,
But mere words from the lips lead only to want.
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