Глава 19

1–30. The manifestation of a cruel and immoral mood by the inhabitants of the city of Gibeah Benjamin during the journey of one Levite. Judges 19:1. In those days when Israel had no king, there lived one Levite on the slope of Mount Ephraim. He took a concubine from Bethlehem of Judea. Judges 19:2. His concubine quarreled with him and left him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judea and was there for four months. Judges 19:3. Her husband got up and followed her to speak to her heart and bring her back to him. With him was his servant and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house. Judges 19:4. The father of this young woman, seeing him, met him with joy, and his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, restrained him. And he stayed with him three days; they ate and drank and spent the night there. Judges 19:5. On the fourth day they got up early, and he got up to go. And the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, Strengthen your heart with a piece of bread, and then you will go. Judges 19:6. They stayed and both ate and drank together. And the father of the young woman said to the man, Stay another night, and let your heart be glad. Judges 19:7. The man got up to go, but his father-in-law begged him, and he again spent the night there. Judges 19:8. On the fifth day he got up in the morning to go. And the father of the young woman said, Strengthen your heart [with bread], and tarry until the day comes. And they both ate [and drank]. Judges 19:9. And the man stood up to go, he himself, his concubine and his servant. And his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him: behold, the day has fallen to evening, please spend the night; Behold, the day will soon end, spend the night here, let your heart be glad; Tomorrow you will start your journey early and go to your home. Judges 19:10. But the husband did not agree to spend the night, got up and went; and came to Jebus, which is now Jerusalem; with him was a pair of loaded donkeys and his concubine with him. Judges 19:11. When they were near Jebus, the day was already very low. And the servant said to his master: Let us go into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it. Judges 19:12. His master said to him, “No, we will not go into the city of the foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel, but we will go as far as Gibeah.” Judges 19:13. And he said to his servant: Let us reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah, or in Ramah. Judges 19:14. And they went and walked, and the sun set near Gibeah Benjamin. One Levite, returning with his concubine from the house of her father, who probably lived in the tribe of Judah and not wanting to spend the night in Jerusalem, as a city then belonging to the Jebusites, came to spend the night in Gibeah Benjamin, now Tell el-Full, an hour's journey north of Jerusalem. Judgment 19:15 . And they turned there to go spend the night in Gibeah. And he came and sat down on the street in the city; but no one invited them to the house for the night. Judges 19:16. And behold, one old man comes from his work from the field in the evening; he was from Mount Ephraim and lived in Gibeah. The inhabitants of this place were the sons of Benjamin. Judges 19:17. He raised his eyes and saw a passerby on a city street. And the old man said: Where are you going? and where did you come from? Judges 19:18. He said to him, “We are going from Bethlehem of Judah to Mount Ephraim, where I am from; I went to Bethlehem of Judea, and now I am going to the house of the Lord; and no one invites me into the house; Judges 19:19. We have straw and food for our donkeys; also your servants have bread and wine for me and for your servant and for this servant; there is no shortage of anything. Judgment 19:20 . The old man told him: be calm: all your shortcomings are on me, just don’t sleep on the street. Judges 19:21. And he brought him into his house and gave food to [his] donkeys, and they themselves washed their feet and ate and drank. After the inhabitants of the city of Gibeah did not want to give the Levite traveler a place to stay for the night, he was taken into his house by an old man who came from the area of ​​​​the tribe of Ephraim, where the Levite also came from. Judges 19:22. While they had cheered their hearts, behold, the inhabitants of the city, depraved people, surrounded the house, knocked on the door and said to the old man, the owner of the house: bring out the man who has entered your house, we will recognize him. Judges 19:23. The owner of the house came out to them and said to them: No, my brothers, do not do evil; when this man entered my house, do not do this foolishness; Judges 19:24. Here I have a daughter, a maiden, and he has a concubine, I will bring them out, humble them and do with them what you please; But don’t do this crazy thing to this person. Judgment 19:25 . But they didn't want to listen to him. Then the husband took his concubine and brought her outside to them. They recognized her and cursed at her all night until the morning. And they released her at dawn. Judges 19:26. And the woman came before dawn, and fell at the door of the house of the man who had her master, and lay there until daylight. Judges 19:27. Her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way: and behold, his concubine was lying at the door of the house, and her hands were on the threshold. Judges 19:28. He told her: get up, let's go. But there was no answer [because she died]. He put her on the donkey, got up and went to his place. The Gibitites, like the men of Sodom (Gen. 19:4-5), who combined lust and sodomy with cruelty, demanded that the elder, who had shown hospitality to the Levite, hand over the Levite to commit sodomy with him. But when the elder managed to guard the Levite himself, the latter himself gave them his concubine, whom they mocked throughout the night, so that she, having reached the door of the house where the Levite was at dawn, died there due to exhaustion. Judges 19:29. Having come to his house, he took a knife and, taking his concubine, cut her according to her limbs into twelve pieces and sent her to all the borders of Israel. Court.19:30 . Everyone who saw this said, “Nothing like this has happened or been seen since the day the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt until this day.” [He gave orders to the people he sent from himself and said: say this to all Israel: has anything like this ever happened?] Pay attention to this, consult and tell. Having brought her corpse to his house, the Levite cut it into 12 pieces and sent a piece to each tribe of Israel in order to draw the attention of the Israelis to the cruelty and immorality of the Givitites. You might be interested in: