When there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived on the other side of the hill country of Ephraim married a woman from Bethlehem, Judah.

My concubine committed adultery and left her husband. She returned to Bethlehem in Judah and stayed at her father’s house for four months.

Her husband got up and went to see her with a servant and two donkeys, persuading her to come back with kind words. The woman led her husband into her father’s house. Her father greeted the person with joy and joy.

The man’s father-in-law, who was the woman’s father, stayed with him for three days. So the two of them ate, drank, and stayed together.

On the the fourth day, when the Levites got up early in the morning to leave, the woman’s father said to her son-in-law, “Please have some food and strengthen your heart. Then you can go on your way.”.

So the two sat down to eat and drink together. The woman’s father said to the man, “Please stay one more night and let your heart rest.”.

The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law forced him to stay and he stayed overnight again.

On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to leave. The woman’s father said, “Please have some food, add some energy, and wait until the sun goes west before leaving.”. So the two of them ate together.

The man, along with his concubine and servants, got up to leave. His father-in-law, who was the father of the woman, said to him, “Look, the sun is setting west. Please stay one more night.”. It’s getting late, you can stay here and enjoy your heart. Get up early tomorrow and go home.

The man did not want to stay for another night, so he prepared the two donkeys and got up with his concubine, walking across from Jebus, which is Jerusalem.

As the sun was about to set near Jebus, the servant said to his master, “Why don’t we go into the city of this Jebusite and stay there?”.

The master replied, “We must not enter a foreign city that is not inhabited by the Israelites. It is better to cross over to Gibeah.”.

And he said to his servants, Let us go to a place, either to dwell in Gibeah or to dwell in Ramah.

They will move forward. As we approach Gibeah in Benjamin, the sun has already set.

They entered Gibeah to stay there and sat on the streets of the city, because no one took them into their home for lodging.

At night, an elderly man returned from working in the field. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim and lived in Gibeah. The people in that place were actually Benjamin people.

The old man looked up and saw the guest sitting on the street in the city, and asked him, “Where are you from?”. Where to go.

He replied, “We are from Bethlehem in Judah and are going to the other side of Mount Ephraim.”. I was originally from there and went to Bethlehem in Judah. Now I am going to the temple of the Lord, and there is no one here to take me into his house.

In fact, I have provisions to feed donkeys with. My concubine and servants have bread and wine, and we don’t lack anything.

The elderly said, May you be safe. I’ll give you everything you need, but you can’t stay overnight on the street.

So he brought them home and fed them donkeys, and they washed their feet, ate and drank.

When their hearts were filled with joy, the bandits in the city surrounded the house, knocking repeatedly at the door and saying to the old man, ‘Bring out the person who entered your house, and we will make peace with him.’.

The landlord came out and said to them, “Brothers, do not do evil like this.”. Since this person has entered my house, please don’t do such an ugly thing.

I have a daughter who is still a virgin and has this person’s concubine. I will take them out and let you insult them, but I will not do such an ugly thing to this person.

But those people didn’t listen to him. The man took his concubine out and handed her over to them, and they befriended her and insulted her all night until it was almost dawn before letting her go.

At dawn, the woman returned to the door of her master’s room and fell to the ground until dawn.

In the morning, her master got up and opened the door, going out to travel. However, the woman fell in front of the door, her hands resting on the threshold.

And he said to the woman, Get up, let’s go. The woman did not answer. The person then carried her on a donkey and got up to go back to her place.

When he arrived at home, he cut his concubine’s body into twelve pieces with a knife and had them transported to the four borders of Israel.

Everyone who sees it says, ‘Since the Israelites left the land of Egypt to this day, such things have not been done or seen.’. Now we should think carefully and discuss how to handle it.