Judges 19:6 - Prayer Tents



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Judges 19
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The Levite

19It was an era when there was no king in Israel. A Levite, living as a stranger in the backwoods hill country of Ephraim, got himself a concubine, a woman from Bethlehem in Judah.H3117H4428H3478H376H3881H1481H3411H2022H669H3947H802H6370H1035H30632But she quarreled with him and left, returning to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there four months.H6370H2181H3212H1H1004H1035H3063H702H2320H31173Then her husband decided to go after her and try to win her back. He had a servant and a pair of donkeys with him. When he arrived at her father's house, the girl's father saw him, welcomed him, and made him feel at home.H376H6965H3212H310H1696H3820H7725H5288H6776H2543H935H1H1004H1H5291H7200H8055H71254His father-in-law, the girl's father, pressed him to stay. He stayed with him three days; they feasted and drank and slept.H2859H5291H1H2388H3427H7969H3117H398H8354H38855On the fourth day, they got up at the crack of dawn and got ready to go. But the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Strengthen yourself with a hearty breakfast and then you can go."H7243H3117H7925H1242H6965H3212H5291H1H559H2860H5582H3820H6595H3899H310H32126So they sat down and ate breakfast together. The girl's father said to the man, "Come now, be my guest. Stay the night—make it a holiday."H3427H398H8354H8147H3162H5291H1H559H376H2974H3885H3820H31907The man got up to go, but his father-in-law kept after him, so he ended up spending another night.H376H6965H3212H2859H6484H3885H77258On the fifth day, he was again up early, ready to go. The girl's father said, "You need some breakfast." They went back and forth, and the day slipped on as they ate and drank together.H7925H1242H2549H3117H3212H5291H1H559H5582H3824H4102H3117H5186H398H81479But the man and his concubine were finally ready to go. Then his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Look, the day's almost gone—why not stay the night? There's very little daylight left; stay another night and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get an early start and set off for your own place."H376H6965H3212H6370H5288H2859H5291H1H559H3117H7503H6150H3885H3117H2583H3885H3824H3190H4279H7925H1870H1980H16810But this time the man wasn't willing to spend another night. He got things ready, left, and went as far as Jebus (Jerusalem) with his pair of saddled donkeys, his concubine, and his servant.H376H14H3885H6965H3212H935H5227H2982H3389H6776H2543H2280H637011At Jebus, though, the day was nearly gone. The servant said to his master, "It's late; let's go into this Jebusite city and spend the night."H2982H3117H3966H7286H5288H559H113H3212H5493H5892H2983H388512But his master said, "We're not going into any city of foreigners. We'll go on to Gibeah."H113H559H5493H5892H5237H1121H3478H5674H139013He directed his servant, "Keep going. Let's go on ahead. We'll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah."H559H5288H3212H7126H259H4725H3885H1390H741414So they kept going. As they pressed on, the sun finally left them in the vicinity of Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.H5674H3212H8121H935H681H1390H114415They left the road there to spend the night at Gibeah. The Levite went and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them in to spend the night.H5493H935H3885H1390H935H3427H7339H5892H376H622H1004H388516Then, late in the evening, an old man came in from his day's work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and lived temporarily in Gibeah where all the local citizens were Benjaminites.H935H2205H376H4639H7704H6153H376H2022H669H1481H1390H582H4725H114517When the old man looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, he said, "Where are you going? And where are you from?"H5375H5869H7200H732H376H7339H5892H2205H376H559H3212H370H93518The Levite said, "We're just passing through. We're coming from Bethlehem on our way to a remote spot in the hills of Ephraim. I come from there. I've just made a trip to Bethlehem in Judah and I'm on my way back home, but no one has invited us in for the night.H559H5674H1035H3063H3411H2022H669H3212H1035H3063H1980H1004H3068H376H622H100419We wouldn't be any trouble: We have food and straw for the donkeys, and bread and wine for the woman, the young man, and me—we don't need anything."H3426H8401H4554H2543H3899H3196H519H5288H5650H4270H169720The old man said, "It's going to be all right; I'll take care of you. You aren't going to spend the night in the town square."H2205H376H559H7965H7535H4270H3885H733921He took them home and fed the donkeys. They washed up and sat down to a good meal.H935H1004H1101H2543H7364H7272H398H835422They were relaxed and enjoying themselves when the men of the city, a gang of local hell-raisers all, surrounded the house and started pounding on the door. They yelled for the owner of the house, the old man, "Bring out the man who came to your house. We want to have sex with him."H3820H3190H582H5892H582H1121H1100H5437H1004H5437H1849H1817H559H1167H1004H2205H376H559H3318H376H935H1004H304523He went out and told them, "No, brothers! Don't be obscene—this man is my guest. Don't commit this outrage.H376H1167H1004H3318H559H408H251H7489H310H376H935H1004H6213H503924Look, my virgin daughter and his concubine are here. I'll bring them out for you. Abuse them if you must, but don't do anything so senselessly vile to this man."H1323H1330H6370H3318H6031H6213H5869H2896H376H6213H2063H5039H169725But the men wouldn't listen to him. Finally, the Levite pushed his concubine out the door to them. They raped her repeatedly all night long. Just before dawn they let her go.H582H14H8085H376H2388H6370H3318H2351H3045H5953H3915H1242H7837H5927H797126The woman came back and fell at the door of the house where her master was sleeping. When the sun rose, there she was.H935H802H6437H1242H5307H6607H376H1004H113H21627It was morning. Her master got up and opened the door to continue his journey. There she was, his concubine, crumpled in a heap at the door, her hands on the threshold.H113H6965H1242H6605H1817H1004H3318H3212H1870H802H6370H5307H6607H1004H3027H559228"Get up," he said. "Let's get going." There was no answer.H559H6965H3212H6030H376H3947H2543H376H6965H3212H472529He lifted her onto his donkey and set out for home. When he got home he took a knife and dismembered his concubine—cut her into twelve pieces. He sent her, piece by piece, throughout the country of Israel.H935H1004H3947H3979H2388H6370H5408H6106H8147H6240H5409H7971H1366H347830And he ordered the men he sent out, "Say to every man in Israel: 'Has such a thing as this ever happened from the time the Israelites came up from the land of Egypt until now? Think about it! Talk it over. Do something!'"H1961H7200H559H2063H7200H3117H1121H3478H5927H776H4714H3117H7760H5779H1696


The Message (MSG). All Scripture quotations are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. More details.
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