Study Desk

Then the man got up to leave, but his father-in-law urged him [strongly to remain]; so he spent the night there again.

When the man and his concubine and his servant got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Behold, now the day has drawn to a close; please spend the night. Look, now the day comes to an end; spend the night here and celebrate, enjoy yourself. Then tomorrow you may get up early for your journey and go home."

But the man was not willing to stay the night; so he got up and left and came to a place opposite Jebus (that is Jerusalem). With him were two saddled donkeys [and his servant] and his concubine.

When they were near Jebus, the day was almost gone, and the servant said to his master, "Please come and let us turn aside into this Jebusite city and spend the night in it."

But his master said to him, "We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who are not of the sons (descendants) of Israel. We will go on as far as Gibeah."

And he said to his servant, "Come and let us approach one of these places: and we will spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah."

and they turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. And the Levite went in and sat down in the open square of the city, because no man invited them into his house to spend the night.

Then behold, there was an old man who was coming out of the field from his work at evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but was staying in Gibeah, and the men of the place were sons (descendants) of Benjamin.

When he looked up, he saw the traveler [and his companions] in the city square; and the old man said, "Where are you going, and where do you come from?"

The Levite replied, "We are passing through from Bethlehem [in the territory] of Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem of Judah, but I am now going [home] to my house, and there is no man [in the city] who will take me into his house [for the night].

So he brought him into his house and fed the donkeys; and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

When her master got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, he saw his concubine lying at the door of the house, and her hands were on the threshold.

When he arrived at his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his [dead] concubine, he cut her [corpse] limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her [body parts] throughout all the territory of Israel.

Then all the people stood [unified] as one man, saying, "None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his home [until this is settled].

Now the men of Israel had sworn [an oath] at Mizpah, "None of us shall give his daughter in marriage to [a man of] Benjamin."

and watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of [the tribe of] Benjamin.

The sons of Israel departed from there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each man went from there to his inheritance.

In those days [when the judges governed] there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

The man's name was Elimelech and his wife's name was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went to the country of Moab and stayed there.