Study Desk

And he said to his young man, Come, and let us draw nigh to one of the places, and we will lodge in Gabaa or in Rama.

And behold, an old man came out of the field from his work in the evening; and the man was of mount Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gabaa, and the men of the place were sons of Benjamin.

And he lifted up his eyes, and saw a traveller in the street of the city; and the old man said to him, Whither goest thou, and whence comest thou?

And he said to him, We are passing by from Bethleem Juda to the sides of mount Ephraim: I am from thence, and I went as far as Bethleem Juda, and I am going home, and there is no man to take me into his house.

And he brought him into his house, and made room for his asses; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

But the men would not consent to hearken to him; so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them; and they knew her, and abused her all night till the morning, and let her go when the morning dawned.

And her husband rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went forth to go on his journey; and, behold, the woman his concubine had fallen down by the doors of the house, and her hands were on the threshold.

And he said to her, Rise, and let us go; and she answered not, for she was dead: and he took her upon his ass, and went to his place.

And he took his sword, and laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve parts, and sent them to every coast of Israel.

And all the people rose up as one man, saying, No one of us shall return to his tent, and no one of us shall return to his house.

Now the children of Israel swore in Massephath, saying, No man of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife.

And it shall come to pass, when their fathers or their brethren come to dispute with us, that we will say to them, Grant them freely to us, for we have not taken every man his wife in the battle: because ye did not give to them according to the occasion, ye transgressed.

And the children of Israel went thence at that time every man to his tribe and his kindred; and they went thence every man to his inheritance.

And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own sight.

And it came to pass when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land: and a man went from Bethleem Juda to sojourn in the land of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

And the man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name Noemin, and the names of his two sons Maalon and Chelaion, Ephrathites of Bethleem of Juda: and they came to the land of Moab, and remained there.

And she rose up and her two daughters-in-law, and they returned out of the country of Moab, for she heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people to give them bread.

And Noemin had a friend an acquaintance of her husband, and the man was a mighty man of the kindred of Elimelech, and his name was Booz.

And Booz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose is this damsel?

And his servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel who returned with Noemin out of the land of Moab.