Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

19 Now in those days Israel had no king. There was a man from the tribe of Levi living in a remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. One day he brought home a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. ² But she became angry with him and returned to her father’s home in Bethlehem.

After about four months, ³ her husband set out for Bethlehem to speak personally to her and persuade her to come back. He took with him a servant and a pair of donkeys. When he arrived at her father’s house, her father saw him and welcomed him. ⁴ Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there.

⁵ On the fourth day the man was up early, ready to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat before you go.” ⁶ So the two men sat down together and had something to eat and drink. Then the woman’s father said, “Please stay another night and enjoy yourself.” ⁷ The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law kept urging him to stay, so he finally gave in and stayed the night.

⁸ On the morning of the fifth day he was up early again, ready to leave, and again the woman’s father said, “Have something to eat; then you can leave later this afternoon.” So they had another day of feasting. ⁹ Later, as the man and his concubine and servant were preparing to leave, his father-in-law said, “Look, it’s almost evening. Stay the night and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way.”

¹⁰ But this time the man was determined to leave. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his concubine and headed in the direction of Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). ¹¹ It was late in the day when they neared Jebus, and the man’s servant said to him, “Let’s stop at this Jebusite town and spend the night there.”

¹² “No,” his master said, “we can’t stay in this foreign town where there are no Israelites. Instead, we will go on to Gibeah. ¹³ Come on, let’s try to get as far as Gibeah or Ramah, and we’ll spend the night in one of those towns.” ¹⁴ So they went on. The sun was setting as they came to Gibeah, a town in the land of Benjamin, ¹⁵ so they stopped there to spend the night. They rested in the town square, but no one took them in for the night.

¹⁶ That evening an old man came home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah, where the people were from the tribe of Benjamin. ¹⁷ When he saw the travelers sitting in the town square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going.

¹⁸ “We have been in Bethlehem in Judah,” the man replied. “We are on our way to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim, which is my home. I traveled to Bethlehem, and now I’m returning home. But no one has taken us in for the night, ¹⁹ even though we have everything we need. We have straw and feed for our donkeys and plenty of bread and wine for ourselves.”

²⁰ “You are welcome to stay with me,” the old man said. “I will give you anything you might need. But whatever you do, don’t spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he took them home with him and fed the donkeys. After they washed their feet, they ate and drank together.

²² While they were enjoying themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, “Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him.”

²³ The old man stepped outside to talk to them. “No, my brothers, don’t do such an evil thing. For this man is a guest in my house, and such a thing would be shameful. ²⁴ Here, take my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can abuse them and do whatever you like. But don’t do such a shameful thing to this man.”

²⁵ But they wouldn’t listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his concubine and pushed her out the door. The men of the town abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, at dawn they let her go. ²⁶ At daybreak the woman returned to the house where her husband was staying. She collapsed at the door of the house and lay there until it was light.

²⁷ When her husband opened the door to leave, there lay his concubine with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said, “Get up! Let’s go!” But there was no answer. So he put her body on his donkey and took her home.

²⁹ When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine’s body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel.

³⁰ Everyone who saw it said, “Such a horrible crime has not been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt. Think about it! What are we going to do? Who’s going to speak up?”

20 Then all the Israelites were united as one man, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, including those from across the Jordan in the land of Gilead. The entire community assembled in the presence of the Lord at Mizpah. ² The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel—400,000 warriors armed with swords—took their positions in the assembly of the people of God. ³ (Word soon reached the land of Benjamin that the other tribes had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites then asked how this terrible crime had happened.

⁴ The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, “My concubine and I came to spend the night in Gibeah, a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin. ⁵ That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead. ⁶ So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory assigned to Israel, for these men have committed a terrible and shameful crime. ⁷ Now then, all of you—the entire community of Israel—must decide here and now what should be done about this!”

⁸ And all the people rose to their feet in unison and declared, “None of us will return home! No, not even one of us! ⁹ Instead, this is what we will do to Gibeah; we will draw lots to decide who will attack it. ¹⁰ One-tenth of the men from each tribe will be chosen to supply the warriors with food, and the rest of us will take revenge on Gibeah of Benjamin for this shameful thing they have done in Israel.” ¹¹ So all the Israelites were completely united, and they gathered together to attack the town.

¹² The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What a terrible thing has been done among you! ¹³ Give up those evil men, those troublemakers from Gibeah, so we can execute them and purge Israel of this evil.”

But the people of Benjamin would not listen. ¹⁴ Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites. ¹⁵ In all, 26,000 of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the 700 elite troops who lived there. ¹⁶ Among Benjamin’s elite troops, 700 were left-handed, and each of them could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth without missing. ¹⁷ Israel had 400,000 experienced soldiers armed with swords, not counting Benjamin’s warriors.

¹⁸ Before the battle the Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should go first to attack the people of Benjamin?”

The Lord answered, “Judah is to go first.”

¹⁹ So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah. ²⁰ Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin. ²¹ But Benjamin’s warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

²² But the Israelites encouraged each other and took their positions again at the same place they had fought the previous day. ²³ For they had gone up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the Lord until evening. They had asked the Lord, “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again?”

And the Lord had said, “Go out and fight against them.”

²⁴ So the next day they went out again to fight against the men of Benjamin, ²⁵ but the men of Benjamin killed another 18,000 Israelites, all of whom were experienced with the sword.

²⁶ Then all the Israelites went up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the Lord and fasted until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. ²⁷ The Israelites went up seeking direction from the Lord. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant of God was in Bethel, ²⁸ and Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron was the priest.) The Israelites asked the Lord, “Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again, or should we stop?”

The Lord said, “Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”

²⁹ So the Israelites set an ambush all around Gibeah. ³⁰ They went out on the third day and took their positions at the same place as before. ³¹ When the men of Benjamin came out to attack, they were drawn away from the town. And as they had done before, they began to kill the Israelites. About thirty Israelites died in the open fields and along the roads, one leading to Bethel and the other leading back to Gibeah.

³² Then the warriors of Benjamin shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did before!” But the Israelites had planned in advance to run away so that the men of Benjamin would chase them along the roads and be drawn away from the town.

³³ When the main group of Israelite warriors reached Baal-tamar, they turned and took up their positions. Meanwhile, the Israelites hiding in ambush to the west of Gibeah jumped up to fight. ³⁴ There were 10,000 elite Israelite troops who advanced against Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that Benjamin didn’t realize the impending disaster. ³⁵ So the Lord helped Israel defeat Benjamin, and that day the Israelites killed 25,100 of Benjamin’s warriors, all of whom were experienced swordsmen. ³⁶ Then the men of Benjamin saw that they were beaten.

The Israelites had retreated from Benjamin’s warriors in order to give those hiding in ambush more room to maneuver against Gibeah. ³⁷ Then those who were hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town. ³⁸ They had arranged to send up a large cloud of smoke from the town as a signal. ³⁹ When the Israelites saw the smoke, they turned and attacked Benjamin’s warriors.

By that time Benjamin’s warriors had killed about thirty Israelites, and they shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did in the first battle!” ⁴⁰ But when the warriors of Benjamin looked behind them and saw the smoke rising into the sky from every part of the town, ⁴¹ the men of Israel turned and attacked. At this point the men of Benjamin became terrified, because they realized disaster was close at hand. ⁴² So they turned around and fled before the Israelites toward the wilderness. But they couldn’t escape the battle, and the people who came out of the nearby towns were also killed. ⁴³ The Israelites surrounded the men of Benjamin and chased them relentlessly, finally overtaking them east of Gibeah. ⁴⁴ That day 18,000 of Benjamin’s strongest warriors died in battle. ⁴⁵ The survivors fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, but Israel killed 5,000 of them along the road. They continued the chase until they had killed another 2,000 near Gidom.

⁴⁶ So that day the tribe of Benjamin lost 25,000 strong warriors armed with swords, ⁴⁷ leaving only 600 men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months. ⁴⁸ And the Israelites returned and slaughtered every living thing in all the towns—the people, the livestock, and everything they found. They also burned down all the towns they came to.

21 The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah, “We will never give our daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin.” ² Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly. ³ “O Lord, God of Israel,” they cried out, “why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!”

⁴ Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. ⁵ Then they said, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the Lord?” At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the Lord’s presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death.

⁶ The Israelites felt sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, “Today one of the tribes of Israel has been cut off. ⁷ How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the Lord not to give them our daughters in marriage?”

⁸ So they asked, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we assembled in the presence of the Lord?” And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly. ⁹ For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present.

¹⁰ So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. ¹¹ “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” ¹² Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found 400 young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.

¹³ The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the remaining people of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. ¹⁴ Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the 400 women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them.

¹⁵ The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the Lord had made this gap among the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ So the elders of the assembly asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? ¹⁷ There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel is not wiped out. ¹⁸ But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.”

¹⁹ Then they thought of the annual festival of the Lord held in Shiloh, south of Lebonah and north of Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. ²⁰ They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. ²¹ When you see the young women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to the land of Benjamin to be your wife! ²² And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be sympathetic. Let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find wives for all of them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not actually give your daughters to them in marriage.’”

²³ So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. Each man caught one of the women as she danced in the celebration and carried her off to be his wife. They returned to their own land, and they rebuilt their towns and lived in them.

²⁴ Then the people of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.

²⁵ In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

[TBR-Day 096: Judges 19-21 (April 6, 2023)]

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Judges 19-21:

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created? 

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.

Judges 19

1. God is not easily manipulated as the Levite in this chapter was.

2. Without a king or person in authority, people tend to drift away from God, lose their moral compass, and commit horrible crimes.

Judges 20

1. God is ready, willing, and able to direct people who unite and ask for His help.

2. People need to work together to fight evil but do so under God’s direction.

Judges 21

1. God desires for His people to build a good society.

2. People should encourage each other to get married and raise children as a way of honoring God.

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding Judges 19-21?

O LORD God, thank You that You are immutable, and firm but kind. Although You can be reasoned with by people like Abraham and Moses, You are not easily manipulated as the Levite in this chapter was. Without a king or person in authority (especially You, LORD) people tend to drift away from You and Your ways, lose their moral compass, and commit horrible crimes against each other. You affirm throughout Your Word that You are always ready, willing, and able to direct people who unite and ask for Your help. Holy Spirit, enable us to do so. We need to work together to fight the evil that is so prevalent at this time in history, but we can only do it if You empower and direct us, LORD. I know beyond a doubt that You desire for Your people to build a good society, encouraging each other to work hard, to get married, and to raise courageous, responsible, and grateful children who trust and obey You. I know that will bring You glory, LORD. AMEN

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Judges 19-21? With the help of God’s Holy Spirit:

• I will practice hospitality without being manipulative like the Levite’s father-in-law.
• I will stand up against evil behavior and not try to placate it (leading to something terrible) like the old man in Gibeah.
• I will gather together with others to seek the LORD’s direction in response to a horrific situation.
• I will encourage young people to get married and to raise a family with the goal of restoring our society to following God.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.