One Year Bible.

The Crime of the Benjamites

¹Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. ²But she was unfaithful to him and left him to return to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah.

After she had been there four months, ³her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back, taking his servant and a pair of donkeys. So the girl brought him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. ⁴His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay, so he remained with him three days, eating, drinking, and lodging there.

⁵On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to depart, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and then you can go.” ⁶So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.” ⁷The man got up to depart, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.

⁸On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to depart, but the girl’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate. ⁹When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”

¹⁰But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up and departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹¹When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here.”

¹²But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” ¹³He continued, “Come, let us try to reach one of these towns to spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. ¹⁵They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the night.

¹⁶That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field. ¹⁷When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?”

¹⁸The Levite replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the LORD; but no one has taken me into his home, ¹⁹even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”

²⁰“Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹So he brought him to his house and fed his donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²²While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”

²³The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage. ²⁴Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.”

²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. ²⁶Early that morning, the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, collapsed at the doorway, and lay there until it was light.

²⁷In the morning, when her master got up and opened the doors of the house to go out on his journey, there was his concubine, collapsed in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸“Get up,” he told her. “Let us go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

²⁹When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. ³⁰And everyone who saw it said, “Nothing like this has been seen or done from the day the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt until this day. Think it over, take counsel, and speak up!”

The Decree of the Assembly

¹Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah. ²The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords. ³(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?”

⁴So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵And during the night, the men of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house. They intended to kill me, but they abused my concubine, and she died. ⁶Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel. ⁷Behold, all you Israelites, give your advice and verdict here and now.”

⁸Then all the people stood as one man and said, “Not one of us will return to his tent or to his house. ⁹Now this is what we will do to Gibeah: We will go against it as the lot dictates. ¹⁰We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.”

¹¹So all the men of Israel gathered as one man, united against the city. ¹²And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that has occurred among you? ¹³Hand over the wicked men of Gibeah so we can put them to death and purge Israel of this evil.”

But the Benjamites refused to heed the voice of their fellow Israelites. ¹⁴And from their cities they came together at Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites. ¹⁵On that day the Benjamites mobilized 26,000 swordsmen from their cities, in addition to the 700 select men of Gibeah. ¹⁶Among all these soldiers there were 700 select left-handers, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair without missing.

¹⁷The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, mobilized 400,000 swordsmen, each one an experienced warrior.

Civil War against Benjamin

¹⁸The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?”

“Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.

¹⁹The next morning the Israelites set out and camped near Gibeah. ²⁰And the men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took up their battle positions at Gibeah.

²¹And the Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down 22,000 Israelites on the battlefield that day.

²²But the Israelite army took courage and again took their battle positions in the same place where they had arrayed themselves on the first day. ²³They went up and wept before the LORD until evening, inquiring of Him, “Should we again draw near for battle against our brothers the Benjamites?”

And the LORD answered, “Go up against them.”

²⁴On the second day the Israelites advanced against the Benjamites. ²⁵That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

²⁶Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. ²⁷And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, ²⁸and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?”

The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

²⁹So Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰On the third day the Israelites went up against the Benjamites and arrayed themselves against Gibeah as they had done before. ³¹The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

³²“We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites.

But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.”

³³So all the men of Israel got up from their places and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamar, and the Israelites in ambush charged from their positions west of Gibeah. ³⁴Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them. ³⁵The LORD defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. ³⁶Then the Benjamites realized they had been defeated.

Now the men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin because they were relying on the ambush they had set against Gibeah. ³⁷The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

³⁸The men of Israel had arranged a signal with the men in ambush: When they sent up a great cloud of smoke from the city, ³⁹the men of Israel would turn in the battle.

When the Benjamites had begun to strike them down, killing about thirty men of Israel, they said, “They are defeated before us as in the first battle.” ⁴⁰But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, the Benjamites looked behind them and saw the whole city going up in smoke.

⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned back on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had come upon them. ⁴²So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there. ⁴³They surrounded the Benjamites, pursued them, and easily overtook them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. ⁴⁴And 18,000 Benjamites fell, all men of valor.

⁴⁵Then the Benjamites turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel cut down 5,000 men on the roads. And they overtook them at Gidom and struck down 2,000 more.

⁴⁶That day 25,000 Benjamite swordsmen fell, all men of valor. ⁴⁷But 600 men turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. ⁴⁸And the men of Israel turned back against the other Benjamites and put to the sword all the cities, including the animals and everything else they found. And they burned down all the cities in their path.

Praise the LORD, O My Soul

¹Hallelujah!

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

²I will praise the LORD all my life;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in princes,

in mortal man, who cannot save.

⁴When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground;

on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the LORD his God,

⁶the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them.

He remains faithful forever.

⁷He executes justice for the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free,

⁸the LORD opens the eyes of the blind,

the LORD lifts those who are weighed down,

the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹The LORD protects foreigners;

He sustains the fatherless and the widow,

but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

¹⁰The LORD reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Hallelujah!

The Resurrection

¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.

⁵As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: ⁷‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”

⁸Then they remembered His words. ⁹And when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹But their words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.

¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus

¹³That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵And as they talked and deliberated, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.

¹⁷He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sadness on their faces. ¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”

¹⁹“What things?” He asked.

“The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people. ²⁰Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him. ²¹But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place.

²²Furthermore, some of our women astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³but they did not find His body. They came and told us they had seen a vision of angels, who said that Jesus was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had described. But Him they did not see.”

²⁵Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.

²⁸As they approached the village where they were headed, He seemed to be going farther. ²⁹But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”

So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus — and He disappeared from their sight.

³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” ³³And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.

There they found the Eleven and those with them, gathered together ³⁴and saying, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon!”

³⁵Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁶While they were describing these events, Jesus Himself stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷But they were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a spirit.

³⁸“Why are you troubled,” Jesus asked, “and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see — for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” ⁴⁰And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet.

⁴¹While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴²So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and He took it and ate it in front of them.

⁴⁴Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” ⁴⁵Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

⁴⁶And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.

⁴⁹And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰When Jesus had led them out as far as Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. ⁵¹While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³praising God continually in the temple.