A Levite and His Concubine
1 In those days, xwhen there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of ythe hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from zBethlehem in Judah. 2 And his concubine was unfaithful to1 him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. 3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. 4 And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5 And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, a“Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” 6 So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and blet your heart be merry.” 7 And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. 8 And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl’s father said, c“Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. 9 And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”
10 But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite dJebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. 11 When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” 12 And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to eGibeah.” 13 And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at fRamah.” 14 So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, 15 and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, gfor no one took them into his house to spend the night.
16 And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from hthe hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. iThe men of the place were Benjaminites. 17 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” 18 And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going jto the house of the Lord,2 gbut no one has taken me into his house. 19 We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. kThere is no lack of anything.” 20 And the old man said, l“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. mOnly, do not spend the night in the square.” 21 So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. nAnd they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
Gibeah’s Crime
22 As they were omaking their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, psurrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” 23 And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, qdo not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, rdo not do this vile thing. 24 sBehold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. tViolate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man rdo not do this outrageous thing.” 25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. 26 And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.
27 And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” uBut there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. 29 And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he vdivided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. 30 wAnd all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; xconsider it, take counsel, and speak.”
Temptations to Sin
1 And he said to his disciples, u“Temptations to sin1 are vsure to come, but wwoe to the one through whom they come! 2 xIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.2 3 Pay attention to yourselves! yIf your brother sins, zrebuke him, and if he repents, aforgive him, 4 and if he sins against you bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Increase Our Faith
5 cThe apostles said to the Lord, d“Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, e“If you had faith like fa grain of mustard seed, you could say to this gmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Unworthy Servants
7 “Will any one of you who has a servant3 plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and hdress properly,4 and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are iunworthy servants;5 we have only done what was our duty.’”
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
11 jOn the way to Jerusalem khe was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,6 lwho stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and mshow yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, npraising God with a loud voice; 16 and ohe fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was pa Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not qten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and rgive praise to God except this sforeigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; tyour faith has tmade you well.”7
The Coming of the Kingdom
20 Being asked by the Pharisees uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God vis not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”8
22 And he said to the disciples, x“The days are coming when you will desire yto see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 aFor as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be bin his day.9 25 But first che must suffer many things and cbe rejected by this generation. 26 dJust as it was in the days of eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 fThey were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be ion the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, jlet the one who is on kthe housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 lRemember Lot’s wife. 33 mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will nkeep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 oThere will be two women pgrinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”10 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, q“Where the corpse11 is, there the vultures12 will gather.”
