¹And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a Levite man staying on the far side of Mount Ephraim, and he took for himself a concubine woman from Bethlehem-Judah. ²And his concubine played the harlot on him, and she went from him to her father's house, to Bethlehem-Judah, and she was there for a year and four months. ³Then her husband-as-it-were arose and went after her to speak kindly to her, to bring her back, and his servant-lad was with him, with a pair of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house, and when the young lady's father saw him, he was pleased at meeting him. ⁴And his father-in-law as it were – the father of the young lady – prevailed upon him, and he stayed with him for three days, and they ate and drank, and they lodged there. ⁵And it came to pass on the fourth day that they got up early, and he arose to go, but the father of the young lady said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a bit of food, and afterwards you can go.” ⁶So they stayed and ate – both of them together – and they drank, and the father of the young lady said to the man, “Please be willing to lodge and let your heart be cheerful.” ⁷But the man got up to go, but his father-in-law put pressure on him, and he lodged there again. ⁸And he arose early to go on the fifth day, but the father of the young lady said, “Do refresh your heart. And they tarried until the day turned noon.” And the two of them ate. ⁹Then the man got up to go – he and his concubine and his servant-lad – but his father-in-law, the father of the young lady, said to him, “Look, the day is declining so as to draw towards evening. Please lodge; see how the day is drawing in. Lodge here, and let your heart be cheerful, and get up early tomorrow for your journey, and go to your tent.” ¹⁰But the man was not willing to lodge, and he got up and departed and came to opposite Jebus – that is Jerusalem – and with him were the pair of donkeys, saddled, and his concubine was also with him. ¹¹They were near Jebus when the day was very much in decline, and the servant-lad said to his master, “Please go and let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.” ¹²But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside to a foreigner's city where there aren't any sons of Israel, but we will cross to Gibeah.” ¹³And he said to his servant-lad, “Come, and we will approach one of the places, and we will lodge in Gibeah or in Ramah.” ¹⁴Then they crossed over, and they proceeded, and the sun set on them beside Gibeah, which is Benjamin's. ¹⁵And they turned aside there to go and lodge in Gibeah. When he arrived there, he sat in a city street, for no-one would receive them indoors to lodge. ¹⁶Now there was an old man coming from his work – from the field – in the evening, and the man was from Mount Ephraim, and he was staying in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷And he raised his eyes, and he saw the traveller in a city street, and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” ¹⁸And he said to him, “We are crossing from Bethlehem-Judah to the far side of Mount Ephraim. I am from there. And I went to Bethlehem-Judah, and I am going to the house of the Lord, but no-one will receive me in their house. ¹⁹Yet we have not only straw and also fodder for our donkeys, but I also have bread and wine, including for your maidservant and the servant-lad, whom you can reckon with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” ²⁰And the old man said, “Peace to you. Only let all your needs be my responsibility, and do not lodge in the street.” ²¹And he brought him into his house, and he fed the donkeys, and they washed their feet, and they ate and drank. ²²While they were making their hearts merry, what happened was some men of the city – good-for-nothing men – surrounded the house, and they knocked on the door and spoke to the old man who was master of the house, and they said, “Bring out the man who went into your house so that we may know him.” ²³And the man who was master of the house came out and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not act wickedly, because this man has come into my house. Do not do this disgraceful thing. ²⁴Here is my virgin daughter, and this man's concubine. Let me bring them out. Then rape them and do to them what is right in your eyes, but do not do this immoral thing to this man.” ²⁵But the men were not willing to listen to him, and the man took hold of his concubine and brought her outside to them, and they knew her, and they abused her all night until morning, and they let her go when dawn came. ²⁶And the woman came at daybreak and fell down at the door of the house of the man where her master was, until daylight. ²⁷And her master rose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, and what he saw was the woman who was his concubine fallen down at the entrance to the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸And he said to her, “Get up and let's go.” But no-one answered. Then he took her on his donkey. Then the man got up and went back home. ²⁹And when he came to his house, he took a knife, and he took hold of his concubine, and he cut her in pieces by her bones – into twelve pieces – and he dispersed her into every territory of Israel. ³⁰And it came to pass that everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has happened or has been seen from the day the sons of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt, up to this day. Consider it, deliberate, and speak out.”