Judges 19

¹A man was a dekene dwellinge in the side of the hil of Effraym, which dekene took a wijf of Bethleem of Juda.

²And sche lefte hym, and turnede ayen in to the hows of hir fadir in Bethleem, and sche dwellide at hym foure monethis.

³And hir hosebonde suede hir, and wolde be recounselid to hir, and speke faire, and lede hir ayen with him; and he hadde in cumpany a child, and tweyne assis. And sche resseyuede hym, and brouyte him in to `the hows of hir fadir; and whanne hise wyues fadir hadde herd this, and `hadde seyn hym, he ran gladli to hym, and kisside the man.

⁴And the hosebonde of the douytir dwellide in `the hows of his wyues fadir in three daies, and eet and drank hoomli with hym.

⁵Sotheli in the fourthe dai he roos bi nyyt, and wolde go forth; whom `the fadir of his wijf helde, and seide to hym, Taaste thou first a litil of breed, and coumforte thi stomak, and so thou schalt go forth.

⁶And thei saten togidere, and eeten, and drunkun. And the fadir of the damysele seide to `the hosebonde of his douyter, Y beseche thee, that thou dwelle here to dai, and that we be glad togidere.

⁷And he roos, and bigan to wilne to go; and neuertheles `the fadir of his wijf helde hym mekeli, and made to dwelle at hym.

⁸Forsothe whanne the morewtid was maad, the dekene made redi weie; to whom `the fadir of his wijf seide eft, Y biseche, that thow take a litil of mete, and make thee strong til the dai encreesse, and aftirward go forth. Therfor thei eten togidere.

⁹And the yong man roos to go with his wijf and child; to whom the fadir of his wijf spak eft, Biholde thou, that the dai is `lowere to the goynge doun, and it neiyeth to euentid; dwelle thou at me also to dai, and lede a glad dai, and to morewe thou schalt go forth, that thou go in to thin hows.

¹⁰The `hosebonde of the douytir nolde assente to hise wordis; but he yede forth anoon, and cam ayens Jebus, which bi another name is clepid Jerusalem; and he ledde with hym twei assis chargid, and the wijf.

¹¹And now thei weren bisidis Jebus, and the day was chaungid in to nyyt. And the child seide to his lord, Come thou, Y biseche, bowe we to the citee of Jebus, and dwelle we therynne.

¹²To whom the lord answeride, Y schal not entre in to the citee of an alien folc, which is not of the sones of Israel, but Y schal passe `til to Gabaa;

¹³and whanne Y schal come thidur, we schulen dwelle therynne, `ether certis in the citee of Rama.

¹⁴Therfor thei passiden Jebus, and token the weie bigunnun. And the sunne yede doun to hem bisidis Gabaa, which is in the lynage of Beniamyn;

¹⁵and thei turneden to it, that thei schulden dwelle there. Whidur whanne thei hadden entrid, thei saten in the street of the citee, and no man wolde resseyue hem to herbore.

¹⁶And lo! an eld man turnede ayen fro the feeld, and fro his werk in the euentid, and apperide to hem, which also hym silf was of the hil of Effraym, and he dwellide a pilgrym in Gabaa. Therfor men of that cuntrey weren the sones of Gemyny.

¹⁷And whanne the eld man reiside his iyen, he siy a man sittynge with hise fardels in the street of the citee; and he seide to `that man, Fro whennus comest thou? and whidur goist thou?

¹⁸Which answeride to hym, We yeden forth fro Bethleem of Juda, and we gon to oure place, which is in the side of the hil of Effraym, fro whennus we yeden to Bethleem; and now we gon to the hows of God, and no man wole resseyue vs vndur his roof,

¹⁹and we han prouendre and hey in to mete of assis, and breed and wyn in to myn vsis, and of thin handmayde, and of the child which is with me; we han no nede to ony thing, no but to herbore.

²⁰To whom the eld man answeride, Pees be with thee; Y schal yyue alle `thingis, that ben nedeful; oneli, Y biseche, dwelle thou not in the street.

²¹And he brouyte hym in to his hows, and yaf `mete to the assis; and after that thei waischiden her feet, he resseyuede hem `in to feeste.

²²While thei eeten, and refreischiden the bodies with mete and drynk after the trauel of weie, men of that citee camen, the sones of Belial, that is, with out yok, and thei cumpassiden the `hows of the elde man, and bigunnun to knocke the doris; and thei crieden to the lord of the hows, and seiden, Lede out the man that entride in to thin hows, that we mysuse him.

²³And the elde man yede out to hem, and seide, Nyle ye, britheren, nyle ye do this yuel; for the man entride in to myn herbore; and ceesse ye of this foli.

²⁴Y haue a douyter virgyn, and this man hath a wijf; Y schal lede out hem to you, that ye make lowe hem, and fille youre lust; oneli, Y biseche, that ye worche not this cursidnesse ayens kynde `ayens the man.

²⁵Thei nolden assente to hise wordis; which thing the man siy, and ledde out his wijf to hem, and bitook to hem hir to be defoulid. And whanne thei hadden misusid hir al niyt, thei leften hir in the morewtid.

²⁶And whanne the derknessis departiden, the womman cam to the dore of the hows, where hir lord dwellide, and there sche felde doun.

²⁷Whanne the morewtid was maad, the man roos, and openyde the dore, `that he schulde fille the weie bigunnun; and lo! his wijf lay bifor the dore, with hondis spred in the threischfold.

²⁸And he gesside `hir to reste, `and spak to hir, Rise thou, and go we. `And whanne sche answeride no thing, he vndirstode that sche was deed; and he took hir, and puttide on the asse, and turnede ayen in to his hows.

²⁹And whanne he entride in `to that hows, he took a swerd, and departide in to twelue partis and gobetis the deed body of the wijf, and sente in to alle the termes of Israel.

³⁰And whanne alle `men hadden herde this, thei crieden, Neuere siche a thing was don in Israel, fro that dai `in which oure fadris stieden fro Egipt `til in to `present tyme; seie ye sentence, and deme ye in comyn, what is nede to be doon.

Judges 19

¹And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth–lehem–judah.

²And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth–lehem–judah, and was there four whole months.

³And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.

⁴And his father in law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there.

⁵And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.

⁶And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.

⁷And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again.

⁸And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.

⁹And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.

¹⁰But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him.

¹¹And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.

¹²And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.

¹³And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.

¹⁴And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.

¹⁵And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

¹⁶And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which was also of mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.

¹⁷And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?

¹⁸And he said unto him, We are passing from Beth–lehem–judah toward the side of mount Ephraim; from thence am I: and I went to Beth–lehem–judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord; and there is no man that receiveth me to house.

¹⁹Yet there is both straw and 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.

²⁰And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street.

²¹So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink.

²²Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and 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.

²³And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly.

²⁴Behold, 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 so vile a thing.

²⁵But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took 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, they let her go.

²⁶Then 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 was light.

²⁷And 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, and her hands were upon the threshold.

²⁸And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

²⁹And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.

³⁰And 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 advice, and speak your minds.