April 6: Judges 19:1 – Judges 21:25

A Levite and His Concubine – Judges 19

• A Levite sojourns in the remote parts of the land of Ephraim and takes a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah. She is unfaithful to him, and returns to the house of her father. After four months, the Levite goes to her father's house to try to take her back, bringing with him a servant and two donkeys.
• His woman's father greets him warmly and encourages him to stay with them. The Levite does, and after three days determines to return home. The woman's father talks him into staying another night. The next day the Levite intends to leave again, taking the woman with him, but her father again tries to get him to stay the night. 
• The Levite leaves anyway. As they near (Jebus) Jerusalem, the servant suggests they spend the night there. The Levite refuses since the city is full of foreigners, and determines that they will travel on to Gilbeah or Ramah. The sun sets as they near Gilbeah (in the land of Benjamin), and they go to the center square since no one will take them into their home.
• An old man returns from the fields at dusk and asks the Levite where he is going and where he is from. The Levite explains, and the man invites them to stay at his house so they will not spend the night in the square. 

Gilbeah's Crime

• As the Levite, his servant, his concubine, and the man are eating and drinking, the men of the city surround the house and beat on the door. They tell the old man to bring out the Levite so they can have sexual relations with him. The man offers them his virgin daughter and the concubine instead, and though the men protested, he seized the concubine and gave her over to the men. They abuse her all night, then let her go at daybreak. She falls down at the old man's door.
• The Levite awakes in the morning and finds her lying outside the door. She doesn't answer him (she has died) when he tells her to get up so they can leave, so he puts her on one of his donkeys. When they returns home, he takes a knife and cuts her into twelve pieces and sends the pieces of her throughout the territory of Israel to rally them against the people of Gilbeah.

Israel's War with the Tribe of Benjamin – Judges 20

• The chiefs of all the tribe of Israel, 400,000 men, come together. They ask the Levite about the evil done to his concubine, and he explains to them what happened and asks for their counsel. The tribes of Israel prepare to repay Gilbeah. The men of Benjamin gather in Gilbeah to defend the city—26,700 men against the 400,000 men of Israel.
• The night, the people of Israel ask God who should go to fight first, and God tells them to send Judah first. The next morning, the fighting begins, and the men of Benjamin kill 22,000 of the Israelites. That night, the Israelites weep before the Lord and ask if they should continue to fight. God tells them to go against them again.
• The next day, the Israelites go against the men of Benjamin, and 18,000 Israelites are killed. That night they weep and fast and offer burnt offerings and peace offerings. They again ask, through Phinehas, if they should continue fighting. God tells them that tomorrow he will give the men of Benjamin into their hands.
• The Israelites set up an ambush around Gilbeah. In the end the Israelites destroy 25,100 men of Benjamin, defeating them. 600 flee into the wilderness for four months, and all the towns and cities are destroyed.

Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin – Judges 21

• The men of Israel had all sworn not to give their daughters to the men of Benjamin. Israel mourns for their lost tribe and questions who will be wives for the remaining men of Benjamin. They determine that since no one had come to the camp (to fight Benjamin) from the town of Jabesh-gilead, they will destroy the entire town (men and women who have lain with a man). 400 virgins are found among the inhabitants, and they bring them to Shiloh.
• The Israelites make peace with the 600 men of Benjamin in the wilderness, and elders determine that when the virgins in Shiloh come out to dance dances, the men of Benjamin may take them as wives. The men of Benjamin do as instructed and return to their lands to rebuild their towns. There was no king of Israel at this time, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.