The Book of Judges, chapters 17 - 21
19 THERE WAS ONCE A MAN NAMED MICAH from the hill-country of
Ephraim. He said to his mother, 'You remember the eleven hundred
pieces of silver which were taken from you, and how you called down a
curse on the thief in my hearing? I have the money; I took it and now I
will give it back to you.' His mother said, 'May the LORD bless you, my
son.' So he gave the eleven hundred pieces of silver back to his mother,
and she said, 'I now solemnly dedicate this money of mine to the LORD for
the benefit of my son, to make a carved idol and a cast image.' He returned
the money to his mother, and she took two hundred pieces of silver and
handed them to a silversmith, who made them into an idol and an image,
which stood in Micah's house.
This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim
and installed one of his sons to be his priest. In those days there was no
king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes. Now
there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the clan of Judah,
a Levite named Ben-gershom. He had left the city of Bethlehem to go
and find somewhere to live. On his way he came to Micah's house in the
hill-country of Ephraim. Micah said to him, 'Where have you come from?'
He replied, 'I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for
somewhere to live.' Micah said to him, 'Stay with me and be priest and
father to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and provide you with
food and clothes.' The Levite agreed to stay with the man and was treated
as one of his own sons. Micah installed the Levite, and the young man
became his priest and a member of his household. Micah said, 'Now I
know that the LORD will make me prosper , because I have a Levite for my
priest.'
18 In those days there was no king in Israel and the tribe of the Danites was
looking for territory to occupy, because they had not so far come into
possession of the territory allotted to them among the tribes of Israel. The
Danites therefore sent out five fighting men of their clan from Zorah and
Eshtaol to prospect, with instructions to go and explore the land. They
came to Micah's house in the hill-country of Ephraim and spent the night
there. While they were there, they recognized the speech of the young
Levite; they turned there and then and said to him, 'Who brought you
here? What are you doing? What is your business here?' He said, 'This is
all Micah's doing: he has hired me and I have become his priest.' They
said to him, 'Then inquire of God on our behalf whether our mission will
be successful.' The priest replied, 'Go in peace. Your mission is in the
LORD's hands.' The five men went on their way and came to Laish. There
they found the inhabitants living a carefree life, in the same way as the
Sidonians a quiet, carefree folk, with no hereditary king to keep the
country under his thumb. They were a long way from the Sidonians, and
had no contact with the Aramaeans. So the five men went back to Zorah
and Eshtaol, and when their kinsmen asked their news, they said, 'Come
and attack them. It is an excellent country that we have seen. Will you hang
back and do nothing about it? Start off now and take possession of the land.
When you get there, you will find a people living a carefree life in a wide
expanse of open country. God has delivered it into your hands, a place
where there is no lack of anything on earth.'
And so six hundred men from the clan of the Danites set out from
Zorah and Eshtaol. They went up country and encamped in Kiriath-
jearim in Judah: this is why that place to this day is called Mahaneh-dan;
it lies west of Kiriath-jearim. From there they passed on to the hill-country
of Ephraim and came to Micah's house. The five men who had been to
explore the country round Laish spoke up and said to their kinsmen, 'Do
you know that in one of these houses there are now ephod and teraphim,
an idol and an image? Now consider what you had best do.' So they turned
aside to Micah's house and greeted him. The six hundred armed Danites
took their stand at the entrance of the gate, and the five men who had gone
to explore the country went indoors to take the idol and the image, ephod
and teraphim, while the priest was standing at the entrance with the six
hundred armed men. The five men entered Micah's house and took the
idol and the image, ephod and teraphim. The priest asked them what they
were doing, but they said to him, 'Be quiet; not a word. Come with us and
be our priest and father. Which is better, to be priest in the household of
one man or to be priest to a whole tribe and clan in Israel?' This pleased
the priest; so he took the ephod and teraphim, the idol and the image, and
joined the company. They turned and went off, putting the dependants,
the herds, and valuables in front. The Danites had gone some distance
from Micah's house, when his neighbours were called out in pursuit and
caught up with them. They shouted after them, and the Danites turned
round and said to Micah, 'What is the matter with you? Why have you
come after us?' He said, 'You have taken my gods which I made for myself,
you have taken the priest, and you have gone off and left me nothing. How
dare you say, "What is the matter with you?" ' The Danites said to him,
'Do not shout at us. We are desperate men and if we fall upon you it will
be the death of yourself and your family.' With that the Danites went on
their way and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned and
went home.
Thus they carried off the priest and the things Micah had made for
himself, and attacked Laish, whose people were quiet and carefree. They
put them to the sword and set fire to their city. There was no one to save
them, for the city was a long way from Sidon and they had no contact with
the Aramaeans, although the city was in the vale near Beth-rehob. They
rebuilt the city and settled in it, naming it Dan after the name of their fore-
father Dan, a son of Israel; but its original name was Laish. The Danites
set up the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons
were priests to the tribe of Dan until the people went into exile. (They set
up for themselves the idol which Micah had made, and it was there as long
as the house of God was at Shiloh.)
19 IN THOSE DAYS when no king ruled in Israel, a Levite was living in the
heart of the hill-country of Ephraim. He had taken himself a concubine
from Bethlehem in Judah. In a fit of anger she had left him and had gone
to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four
months, her husband set out after her with his servant and two asses to
appeal to her and bring her back. She brought him in to the house of her
father, who welcomed him when he saw him. His father-in-law, the girl's
father, pressed him and he stayed with him three days, sand they were well
entertained during their visit. On the fourth day, they rose early in the
morning, and he prepared to leave, but the girl's father said to his son-in-
law, 'Have something to eat first, before you go.' So the two of them sat
down and ate and drank together. The girl's father said to the man, 'Why
not sped the night and enjoy yourself?' When he rose to go, the father-in-
law urged him to stay, and again he stayed for the night. He rose early in
the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the girl's father said, 'Have
something to eat first.' So they lingered till late afternoon, eating and
drinking together. Then the man stood up to go with his concubine and
servant, but his father-in-law said, 'See how the day wears on towards
sunset. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself, and then rise early to-
morrow and set out for home.' But the man wouldn't stay the night; he
rose and left. He had reached a point opposite Jebus, that is Jerusalem,
with his two laden asses and his concubine, and when they were close to
Jebus, the weather grew wild and stormy, and the young man said to his
master, 'Come now, let us turn into this Jebusite town and spend the night
there.' But his master said to him, ' No, not into a strange town where the
people are not Israelites; let us go to Gibeah. Come, we will go and find
some other place, and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.' So they went
on until sunset overtook them; they were then near Gibeah which belongs
to Benjamin. They turned in to spend the night there, and went and sat
down in the open street of the town; but nobody took them into his house
for the night.
Meanwhile an old man was coming home in the evening from his work
in the fields. He was from the hill-country of Ephraim, but he lived in
Gibeah, where the people were Benjamites. He looked up, saw the travel-
ler in the open street of the town, and asked him where he was going and
where he came from. He answered, 'We are traveling from Bethlehem in
Judah to the heart of the hill-country of Ephraim. I come from there; I
have been to Bethlehem in Judah and I am going home, but nobody has
taken me into his house. I have straw for provender for the asses, afood and
wine for myself, the girl, and the young man; we have all we need, sir.'
The old man said, 'You are welcome, I will supply all your wants; you
must not spend the night in the street.' So he took him inside and provided
fodder for the asses; they washed their feet, and ate and drank. While they
were enjoying themselves, some of the worst scoundrels in the town sur-
rounded the house, hurling themselves against the door and shouting to
the old man who owned the house, 'Bring out the man who has gone into
your house, for us to have intercourse with him.' The owner of the house
went outside to them and said, 'No, my friends, do nothing so wicked. This
man is my guest; do not commit this outrage. Here is my daughter, a
virgin; let me bring her out to you. Rape her and do to her what you
please; but you shall not commit such an outrage against this man.' But
the men refused to listen to him, so the Levite took hold of his concubine
and thrust her outside for them. They assaulted her and abused her all
night till the morning, and when dawn broke, they let her go. The girl
came at daybreak and fell down at the entrance of the man's house where
her master was, and lay there until it was light. Her master rose in the
morning and opened the door of the house to set out on his journey, and
there was his concubine lying at the door with her hands on the threshold.
He said to her, 'Get up and let us be off'; but there was no answer. So he
lifted her on to his ass and set off for home. When he arrived there, he
picked up a knife, and he took hold of his concubine and cut her up limb
by limb into twelve pieces; and he sent them through the length and
breadth of Israel. He told the men he sent with them to say to every
Israelite, 'Has the like of this happened or been seen from the time the
Israelites came up from Egypt till today? Consider this among yourselves
and speak your minds.' So everyone who saw them said, 'No such thing
has ever happened or been seen before.'
20 All the Israelites, the whole community from Dan to Beersheba and out
of Gilead also, left their homes as one man and assembled before the LORD
at Mizpah. The leaders of the people and all the tribes of Israel presented
themselves in the general assembly of the people of God, four hundred
thousand foot-soldiers armed with swords; and the Benjamites heard that
the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked how this wicked
thing had come about, and the Levite, to whom the murdered woman
belonged, answered, 'I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to
spend the night there. The citizens of Gibeah rose against me that night
and surrounded the house where I was, intending to kill me; and they raped
my concubine and she died. I took her and cut her in pieces, and sent them
through the length and breadth of Israel, because of the filthy outrage they
had committed in Israel. Now it is for you, the whole of Israel, to say here
and now what you think ought to be done.' All the people rose to their feet
as one man and said, 'Not one of us shall go back to his tent, not one shall
return home. This is what we will now do to Gibeah. We will draw lots for
the attack: and we will take ten men out of every hundred in all the tribes
of Israel, a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every
ten thousand, to collect provisions from the people for those who have taken
the field against Gibeah in Benjamin to avenge the outrage committed in
Israel.' Thus all the Israelites to a man were massed against the town.
The tribes of Israel sent men all through the tribe of Benjamin saying,
'What is this wicked thing which has happened in your midst? Hand over
to us those scoundrels of Gibeah, and we will put them to death and purge
Israel of this wickedness.' But the Benjamites refused to listen to their
fellow-Israelites. They flocked from their cities to Gibeah to go to war with
the Israelites, and that day they mustered out of their cities twenty-six
thousand men armed with swords. There were also seven hundred picked
men from Gibeah, left-handed men, who could sling a stone and not miss
by a hair's breadth. The Israelites, without Benjamin, numbered four
hundred thousand men armed with swords, every one a fighting man. The
Israelites at once moved on to Bethel, and there they sought an oracle from
God, asking, 'Which of us shall attack Benjamin first?', and the LORD's
answer was, 'Judah shal attack first.' So the Israelites set out at dawn and
encamped opposite Gibeah. They advanced to do battle with Benjamin
and drew up their forces before the town. The Benjamites made a sally
from Gibeah and left twenty-two thousand of Israel dead on the field that
day. The Israelites went up to Bethel, lamented before the LORD until
evening and inquired whether they should again attack their brother
Benjamin. The LORD said, 'Yes, attack him.' Then the Israelites took fresh
courage and again formed up on the same ground as the first day. So the
second day they advanced against the Benjamites, who sallied out from
Gibeah to meet them and laid another eighteen thousand armed men low.
The Israelites, the whole people, went back to Bethel, where they sat before
the LORD lamenting and fasting until evening, and they offered whole-
offerings and shared-offerings before the LORD. In those days the Ark of
the Covenant of God was there, and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of
Aaron, served before the LORD. The Israelites inquired of the LORD and
said, 'Shall we again march out to battle against Benjamin our brother or
shall we desist?' The LORD answered, 'Attack him: tomorrow I will deliver
him into your hands.' Israel then posted men in ambush all round Gibeah.
On the third day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites and
drew up their forces at Gibeah as they had before; and the Benjamites
sallied out to meet he army. They were drawn away from the town and
began the attack as before by killing a few Israelites, about thirty, on the
highways which led across open country, one to Bethel and the other to
Gibeah. They thought they were defeating them once again, but the
Israelites had planned a retreat to draw them away from the town out on to
the highways. Meanwhile the main body of Israelites left their positions
and re-formed in Baal-tamar, while those in ambush, ten thousand picked
men all told, burst out from their position in the neighbourhood of Gibeah
and came in on the east of the town. There was soon heavy fighting; yet
the Benjamites did not suspect the disaster that was threatening them. So
the LORD put Benjamin to flight before Israel, and on that day the Israelites
killed twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites, all armed men.
The men of Benjamin now saw that they had been defeated, for all that
the Israelites, trusting in the ambush which they had set by Gibeah, had
given way before them. The men in ambush made a sudden dash on
Gibeah, fell on the town from all sides and put all the inhabitants to the
sword. The agreed signal between the Israelites and those in ambush was
to be a column of smoke sent up from the town. The Israelites then faced
about in battle; and Benjamin began to cut down the Israelis, killing
about thirty of them, in the belief that they were defeating them as they
had done in the first encounter. As the column of smoke began to go up
from the town, the Benjamites looked back and thought the whole town
was going up in flames. When the Israelites faced about, the Benjamites
saw that disaster had overtaken them and were seized with panic. They
turned and fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but
the fighting caught up with them and soon those from the town were
among them, cutting them down. They hemmed in the Benjamites, pur-
suing them without respite, and overtook them at a point to the east of
Gibeah. Eighteen thousand of the Benjamites fell, all of them fighting
men. The survivors turned and fled into the wilderness towards the Rock
of Rimmon. The Israelites picked off the stragglers on the roads, five thou-
sand of them, and chased them until they had cut down and killed two
thousand more. Twenty-five thousand armed men of Benjamin fell in battle
that day, all fighting men. The six hundred who survived turned and fled
into the wilderness as far as the Rock of Rimmon, and there they remained
for four months. The Israelites then turned back to deal with the Benjam-
ites, and put to the sword the people in the towns and the cattle, every
creature they found; they also set fire to every town within their reach.
21 In Mizpah the Israelites had bound themselves by oath that none of
them would marry his daughter to a Benjamite. The people now came to
Bethel and remained there in God's presence till sunset, raising their voices
in loud lamentation. They said, 'O LORD God of Israel, why has it happened
in Israel that one tribe should this day be lost to Israel?' Next day the
people rose early, built an altar there and offered whole-offerings and
shared-offerings. At that the Israelites asked themselves whether among all
the tribes of Israel there was anyone who did not go up to the assembly
before the LORD; for under the terms of the great oath anyone who had not
gone up to the LORD at Mizpah was to be put to death. And the Israelites
felt remorse over their brother Benjamin, because, as they said, 'This day
Israel has lost one whole tribe.' So they asked, 'What shall we do for wives
for those who are left? We have sworn to the LORD not to give any of our
daughters to them in marriage. Is there anyone in all the tribes of Israel
who did not go up to the LORD at Mizpah?' Now it happened that no one
from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly; so when they
held a roll-call of the people, they found that no inhabitant of Jabesh-
gilead was present. Thereupon the community sent off twelve thousand
fighting men with orders to go and put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to
the sword, men, women, and dependants. 'This is what you shall do,' they
said: 'put to death every male person, every woman who has had inter-
course with a man, but spare any who are virgins.' This they did. Among
the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead they found four hundred young women
who were virgins and had not had intercourse with a man, and they brought
them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan. Then the whole community sent
messengers to the Benjamites at the Rock of Rimmon to parley with them,
and peace was proclaimed. At this the Benjamites came back, and were
given those of the women of Jabesh-gilead who had been spared; but these
were not enough.
The people were still full of remorse over Benjamin because the LORD
had made this gap in the tribes of Israel, and the elders of the community
said, 'What shall we do for wives for the rest? All the women in Benjamin
have been massacred.' They said, 'Heirs there must be for the remnant
of Benjamin who have escaped! Then Israel will not see one of its tribes
blotted out. We cannot give them our daughters in marriage because
we have sworn that there shall be a curse on the man who gives a wife to a
Benjamite.' Then they bethought themselves of the pilgrimage in honour
of the LORD, made every year to Shiloh, the place which lies to the north of
Bethel, on the east side of the highway from Bethel to Shechem and to the
south of Lebonah. They said to the Benjamites, 'Go and hide in the vine-
yards and keep watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to dance, sally
out of the vineyards, and each of you seize one of them for his wife; then
make your way home to the land of Benjamin. Then, if their fathers or
brothers come and complain to you, say to them, "Let us keep them with
your approval, for none of us has captured a wife in battle. Had you offered
them to us, the guilt would be yours." '
All this the Benjamites did. They carried off as many wives as they
needed, snatching them as they danced; then they went their way and
returned to their patrimony, rebuilt their cities and settled in them. The
Israelites also dispersed by tribes and families, and every man went back
to his own patrimony.
In those days there was no king in Israel and every man did what was
right in his own eyes.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Aug 6, 2018, 9:49 PM UTC
10