Judges 20:4
The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, spoke up,“I and my concubine stopped in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin to spend the night.
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Referenced Verses
- Judg 19:15-28 : 15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night. 16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah.(The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) 17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man said,“Where are you heading? Where do you come from?” 18 The Levite said to him,“We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. But no one has invited me into their home. 19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, and the young man who is with your servants. We lack nothing.” 20 The old man said,“Everything is just fine! I will take care of all your needs. But don’t spend the night in the town square.” 21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal. 22 They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house,“Send out the man who came to visit you so we can take carnal knowledge of him.” 23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them,“No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing! 24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!” 25 The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite grabbed his concubine and made her go outside. They raped her and abused her all night long until morning. They let her go at dawn. 26 The woman arrived back at daybreak and was sprawled out on the doorstep of the house where her master was staying until it became light. 27 When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went outside to start on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, sprawled out on the doorstep of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her,“Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home.
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Judg 20:5-62 verses88%
5 The leaders of Gibeah attacked me and at night surrounded the house where I was staying. They wanted to kill me; instead they abused my concubine so badly that she died.
6 I took hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces throughout the territory occupied by Israel, because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity in Israel.
- 79%
3 The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. Then the Israelites said,“Explain how this wicked thing happened!”
- Judg 19:13-175 verses75%
13 He said to his servant,“Come on, we will go into one of the other towns and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
14 So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.
15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.
16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah.(The residents of the town were Benjaminites.)
17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man said,“Where are you heading? Where do you come from?”
- Judg 19:9-113 verses75%
9 When the man got ready to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him,“Look! The day is almost over! Stay another night! Since the day is over, stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.”
10 But the man did not want to stay another night. He left and traveled as far as Jebus(that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late and the servant said to his master,“Come on, let’s stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”
- Judg 19:22-309 verses75%
22 They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house,“Send out the man who came to visit you so we can take carnal knowledge of him.”
23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them,“No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing!
24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s concubine. I will send them out and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!”
25 The men refused to listen to him, so the Levite grabbed his concubine and made her go outside. They raped her and abused her all night long until morning. They let her go at dawn.
26 The woman arrived back at daybreak and was sprawled out on the doorstep of the house where her master was staying until it became light.
27 When her master got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and went outside to start on his journey, there was the woman, his concubine, sprawled out on the doorstep of the house with her hands on the threshold.
28 He said to her,“Get up, let’s leave!” But there was no response. He put her on the donkey and went home.
29 When he got home, he took a knife, grasped his concubine, and carved her up into twelve pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout Israel.
30 Everyone who saw the sight said,“Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed during the entire time since the Israelites left the land of Egypt! Take careful note of it! Discuss it and speak!”
- Judg 19:1-33 verses75%
1 Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
2 However, she got angry at him and went home to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months,
3 her husband came after her, hoping he could convince her to return. He brought with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly.
- Judg 20:12-143 verses74%
12 The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying,“How could such a wicked thing take place?
13 Now, hand over the good-for-nothings in Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of wickedness.” But the Benjaminites refused to listen to their Israelite brothers.
14 The Benjaminites came from their cities and assembled at Gibeah to make war against the Israelites.
- Judg 20:31-322 verses73%
31 The Benjaminites attacked the army, leaving the city unguarded. They began to strike down their enemy just as they had done before. On the main roads(one leads to Bethel, the other to Gibeah) and in the field, they struck down about thirty Israelites.
32 Then the Benjaminites said,“They are defeated just as before.” But the Israelites said,“Let’s retreat and lure them away from the city into the main roads.”
- Judg 20:35-373 verses71%
35 The LORD annihilated Benjamin before Israel; the Israelites struck down that day 25,100 sword-wielding Benjaminites.
36 Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated.The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.
37 The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.
- 71%
16 The leaders of the assembly said,“How can we find wives for those who are left? After all, the Benjaminite women have been wiped out.
- Judg 21:21-222 verses71%
21 and keep your eyes open. When you see the daughters of Shiloh coming out to dance in the celebration, jump out from the vineyards. Each one of you, catch yourself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh and then go home to the land of Benjamin.
22 When their fathers or brothers come and protest to us, we’ll say to them,“Do us a favor and let them be, for we could not get each one a wife through battle. Don’t worry about breaking your oath! You would only be guilty if you had voluntarily given them wives.’”
- 70%
9 Micah said to him,“Where do you come from?” He replied,“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.”
- Judg 20:19-202 verses69%
19 The Israelites got up the next morning and moved against Gibeah.
20 The men of Israel marched out to fight Benjamin; they arranged their battle lines against Gibeah.
- 69%
11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah.
- 69%
25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.
- 69%
15 They stopped there, went inside the young Levite’s house(which belonged to Micah), and asked him how he was doing.
- 69%
7 Micah Hires a Professional There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.
- 69%
20 He said to her,“Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you,‘Is there a man here?’ say,‘No.’”
- Judg 20:9-102 verses69%
9 Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will attack the city as the lot dictates.
10 We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel(and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.”
- 69%
39 the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said,“There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”
- 69%
3 As they approached Micah’s house, they recognized the accent of the young Levite. So they stopped there and said to him,“Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”
- Judg 21:12-143 verses68%
12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young girls who were virgins who had never been intimate with a man in bed. They brought them back to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
13 The entire assembly sent messengers to the Benjaminites at the cliff of Rimmon and assured them they would not be harmed.
14 The Benjaminites returned at that time, and the Israelites gave to them the women they had spared from Jabesh Gilead. But there were not enough to go around.
- 68%
6 The Israelites regretted what had happened to their brother Benjamin. They said,“Today we cut off an entire tribe from Israel!