to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah. So they passed on and 14 went their way; and the sun went down upon them near to Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither, to go in 15 to lodge in Gibeah: and he went in, and sat him down in the street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodge. And, behold, there came an old man 16 from his work out of the field at even; now the man was of the hill country of Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites. And he lifted up his eyes, 17 and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou? And he said unto 18 him, We are passing from Beth-lehem-judah unto the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim; from thence am I, and I went to Beth1 The Sept. lehem-judah: 'and I am now going to the house of the LORD; and there is no man that taketh me into his house. Yet there is both straw and 19 provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is with thy servants: there is no want of any thing. And the old man 20 said, Peace be unto thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave 21 the asses fodder: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. As they were making 22 their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, beating at the door; and they spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. And the man, the 23 master of the house, went out unto them, and

has, and I am going to my

house.

2

Or, base fellows

3 That is,

worthlessness.

3

said unto them, Nay, my brethren, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is 24 come into mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not 25 any such folly. But the men would not hearken to him: so the man laid hold on his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, 26 they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it 27 was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. 28 And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going;

ing to her

but none answered: then he took her up upon the ass; and the man rose up, and gat him unto 29 his place. And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, 'limb by limb, into 1 Heb. accordtwelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the 30 borders of Israel. And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: consider of it, take counsel, and speak.

I

20 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the 2 land of Gilead, unto the LORD at Mizpah. And the 'chiefs of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the

bones.

3

assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpah.) And the children of Israel said, Tell us, how was this wickedness brought to pass? And the 4 Levite, the husband of the woman that was murdered, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. And the men of Gibeah 5 rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night; me they thought to have slain, and my concubine they forced, and she is dead. And I took my concubine, 6 and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. Behold, ye children of Israel, all of 7 you, give here your advice and counsel. And 8 all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn unto his house. But now 9 this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah ; we will go up against it by lot; and we will 10 take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when 1 Heb. Geba. they come to 'Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. So all the men of Israel were gathered against 11 the city, knit together as one man.

2 Heb. tribes.

18, 1 Sam. ix.

21.

12

And the tribes of Israel sent men through See Num. iv. all the 'tribe of Benjamin, saying, What wickedness is this that is come to pass among you? Now therefore deliver up the men, the 'sons of 13 'Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put worthlessness. them to death, and put away evil from Israel.

3 Or, base fellows

+ That is,

14

But 'Benjamin would not hearken to the voice 1 Another of their brethren the children of Israel. And children of And reading is, the the children of Benjamin gathered themselves Benjamin. together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel. 15 And the children of Benjamin were numbered

some ancient

on that day out of the cities twenty and six According to thousand men that drew sword, besides the authorities, inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered five. 16 seven hundred chosen men. Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair-breadth, and not miss.

17

And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that 18 drew sword: all these were men of war. And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin ? And the 19 LORD said, Judah shall go up first. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning, and 20 encamped against Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin ; and the men of Israel set the battle in array 21 against them at Gibeah. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites on 22 that day twenty and two thousand men. And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and set the battle again in array in the place where they set themselves in array the 23 first day. (And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even; and they asked of the LORD, saying, Shall I again draw nigh to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)

And the children of Israel came near against 24 the children of Benjamin the second day. And 25 Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men ; all these drew the sword. Then 26 all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. And the 27 children of Israel asked of the LORD, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son 28 of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the LORD said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into thine hand. And Israel set liers in wait against Gibeah 29 round about.

And the children of Israel went up against 30 the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times. And the children of Benjamin 31 went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the high ways, of which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin 32 said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city unto the high ways. And all the men of Israel rose 33 up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar: and the liers in wait of Israel brake forth out of their place, even out of