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 g}but 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.”

1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, ^xI have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest ^yAnanias commanded those who stood by him ^zto strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^awhitewashed ^bwall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ^ccontrary to the law you ^corder me to be struck?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile ^dGod’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, ^e“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ^f‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^gSadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^hI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ⁱwith respect to the ^jhope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees ^ksay that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^lthe scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, ^m“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ⁿif a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^othe barracks.

11 ^pThe following night ^qthe Lord stood by him and said, ^r“Take courage, for ^sas you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ^ttestify also in Rome.”

A Plot to Kill Paul

12 When it was day, ^uthe Jews made a plot and ^vbound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered ^wthe barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul ^xthe prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 And he said, ^y“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 21 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who ^zhave bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.¹ 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to ^aFelix ^bthe governor.” 25 And he wrote a letter to this effect:

26 “Claudius Lysias, to ^chis Excellency the governor Felix, ^dgreetings. 27 ^eThis man was seized by the Jews and ^fwas about to be killed by them ^fwhen I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, ^ghaving learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 And ^hdesiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I found that he was being accused ⁱabout questions of their law, but ^jcharged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 ^kAnd when it was disclosed to me ^lthat there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ^mordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to ⁿthe barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34 On reading the letter, he asked what ^oprovince he was from. And when he learned ^pthat he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing ^qwhen your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s ^rpraetorium.

The Lord Promises Peace

1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ⁿshut up in the court of the guard: 2 “Thus says ^othe Lord who made the earth,¹ the Lord who formed it to establish it—^pthe Lord is his name: 3 ^qCall to me and I will answer you, ^rand will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against ^sthe siege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in ^tto fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them² with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down ^uin my anger and my wrath, ^vfor I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 ^wBehold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 ^xI will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, ^yand rebuild them as they were ^zat first. 8 ^aI will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, ^band I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 ^cAnd this city³ shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall ^dfear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^eof which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 ^fthe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring ^gthank offerings to the house of the Lord:

^xFor I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱIn this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be ^jhabitations of shepherds ^kresting their flocks. 13 ^lIn the cities of the hill country, ^lin the cities of the Shephelah, ^land in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, ^lthe places about Jerusalem, ^land in the cities of Judah, ^mflocks shall again pass under the hands ⁿof the one who counts them, says the Lord.

The Lord’s Eternal Covenant with David

14 ^o“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^pI will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^qBranch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, ^rand Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^s‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

17 “For thus says the Lord: ^tDavid shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 ^uand the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 ^v“Thus says the Lord: ^wIf you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^xso that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21 ^ythen also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. 22 As ^zthe host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^zthe sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord: ^aIf I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^bFor I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, ⁿwhen he fled from Absalom his son.

Answer Me When I Call

To the ^echoirmaster: with ^estringed instruments. A Psalm of David.