Study Desk

They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into town and sat down in the city square, but no one offered to take them home for the night.

While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work on the farm. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.)

But the old man went outside and said to them, "No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest.

Look! Here is his concubine and my own virgin daughter. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do whatever you want to with them. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!"

But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning.

He said, "Get up. Let's go." But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home.

Now hand over those perverts in Gibeah, so that we can kill them and remove this evil from Israel." But the people of Benjamin paid no attention to the other Israelites.

The Benjaminites said, "We've beaten them just as before." But the Israelites had planned to retreat and lead them away from the city onto the roads.

They retreated from the Israelites and ran toward the open country, but they could not escape. They were caught between the main army and the men who were now coming out of the city, and they were destroyed.

But six hundred men were able to escape to the open country to Rimmon Rock, and they stayed there four months.

The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.

but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters."

They started out together to go back to Judah, but on the way

And may the Lord make it possible for each of you to marry again and have a home." So Naomi kissed them good-bye. But they started crying

Again they started crying. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye and went back home, but Ruth held on to her.

But Ruth answered, "Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

Wherever you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. May the Lord 's worst punishment come upon me if I let anything but death separate me from you!"

When I left here, I had plenty, but the Lord has brought me back without a thing. Why call me Naomi when the Lord Almighty has condemned me and sent me trouble?"

So wash yourself, put on some perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go where he is threshing, but don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

"The Lord bless you," he said. "You are showing even greater family loyalty in what you are doing now than in what you did for your mother-in-law. You might have gone looking for a young man, either rich or poor, but you haven't.