Mlawi Na Suria Wake
119:1 Amu 18:1; Rut 1:1Katika siku hizo Israeli hawakuwa na mfalme.
Basi Mlawi mmoja aliyeishi sehemu za mbali katika nchi ya vilima ya Efraimu, akamchukua suria mmoja kutoka Bethlehemu ya Yuda. 2Lakini suria wake akafanya ukahaba dhidi yake, naye akamwacha akarudi nyumbani kwa baba yake huko Bethlehemu ya Yuda. Baada ya kukaa huko kwa muda wa miezi minne, 3mume wake akaenda kumsihi ili arudi. Alikwenda na mtumishi wake na punda wawili. Yule mwanamke akamkaribisha nyumbani mwa baba yake, baba yake alipomwona akamkaribisha kwa furaha. 419:4 Kut 32:6Baba mkwe wake, yaani, baba yake yule msichana, akamzuia ili akae, hivyo akakaa na huyo baba mkwe wake kwa siku tatu, wakila, wakinywa na kulala huko.
519:5 Mwa 15:8Siku ya nne wakaamka mapema naye akajiandaa kuondoka, lakini baba wa yule msichana akamwambia mkwewe, “Ujiburudishe kwa kula kitu chochote, ndipo uweze kwenda.” 619:6 Amu 16:25Basi wakaketi wote wawili ili kula na kunywa pamoja. Baadaye baba wa msichana akamwambia, “Tafadhali ubakie usiku huu upate kujifurahisha nafsi yako.” 7Basi yule mtu alipotaka kuondoka baba wa yule msichana akamsihi, basi akabaki usiku ule. 8Asubuhi ya siku ya tano, alipoamka ili aondoke, baba wa yule msichana akamwambia, “Jiburudishe nafsi yako. Ngoja mpaka mchana!” Kwa hiyo wote wawili wakala chakula pamoja.
9Basi wakati yule mtu alipoinuka aende zake, pamoja na suria wake na mtumishi wake, baba mkwe wake, yaani, baba wa yule msichana akamwambia, “Tazama sasa jioni inakaribia. Ulale hapa usiku unakaribia. Ukae, ukajifurahishe nafsi yako. Kesho unaweza kuamka mapema asubuhi na uende nyumbani kwako.” 1019:10 Mwa 10:16; Yos 15:8; 1Nya 11:4-5Lakini akakataa kulala tena, akaondoka na kwenda mpaka Yebusi (ndio Yerusalemu), akiwa na punda wake wawili waliotandikiwa, pamoja na suria wake.
1119:11 Mwa 10:16; Yos 3:10Alipokaribia Yebusi na usiku ukiwa umekaribia, mtumishi akamwambia bwana wake, “Haya sasa natuingie katika mji huu wa Wayebusi tulale humo.”
12Lakini bwana wake akamjibu, “Hapana. Hatutaingia kwenye mji wa kigeni, ambao watu wake si Waisraeli. Tutaendelea mpaka tufike Gibea.” 1319:13 Yos 18:25Akasema, “Haya, tujitahidi tufike Gibea au Rama, nasi tutalala katika mji mmojawapo.” 1419:14 Yos 15:57; 1Sam 10:26; 11:4; 13:2; 15:34; Isa 10:29Hivyo wakaendelea na safari, jua likachwea walipokaribia Gibea ambao ni mji wa Benyamini. 1519:15 Mwa 24:23; 19:2Wakageuka ili kuingia na kulala Gibea. Wakaingia humo, wakaketi kwenye uwanja wa mji, wala hakuna mtu yeyote aliyewakaribisha kwake ili wapate kulala.
1619:16 Za 104:23Jioni ile mtu mmoja mzee toka nchi ya vilima ya Efraimu, aliyekuwa anaishi huko Gibea (watu wa sehemu ile walikuwa Wabenyamini), akarudi kutoka kwenye kazi za shamba. 1719:17 Mwa 29:4Alipotazama na kuwaona hao wasafiri katika uwanja wa mji, yule mzee akawauliza, “Ninyi mnakwenda wapi? Nanyi mmetoka wapi?”
1819:18 Amu 18:31Akamwambia, “Tumepita kutoka Bethlehemu ya Yuda, tunaelekea katika nchi ya vilima ya Efraimu, ambako ndiko ninakoishi. Nilikwenda Bethlehemu ya Yuda na sasa ninakwenda katika nyumba ya Bwana. Hakuna mtu yeyote aliyenikaribisha katika nyumba yake. 1919:19 Mwa 24:25; 42:27; 14:18Tunazo nyasi na chakula cha punda wetu na mkate na divai kwa ajili yetu sisi watumishi wako, yaani mimi, mtumishi wako mwanamke, pamoja na huyu kijana tuliyefuatana naye. Hatuhitaji kitu chochote.”
20Yule mzee akawaambia, “Amani iwe kwenu! Karibuni nyumbani mwangu. Nitawapa mahitaji yenu yote, msilale katika uwanja huu wa mji.” 2119:21 Mwa 24:32-33; Lk 7:44Hivyo akamwingiza nyumbani mwake na kuwalisha punda wake. Baada ya kunawa miguu yao, wakala na kunywa.
2219:22 Amu 16:25; Kum 13:13; Mwa 19:4-5; Amu 20:5; Rum 1:26-27Walipokuwa wakijiburudisha, watu waovu wa mji huo, wakaizingira ile nyumba. Wakagonga mlango na kusema na yule mzee mwenye nyumba, “Mtoe nje yule mtu aliyeingia kwako, tupate kumlawiti.”
2319:23 Mwa 19:6; 34:7; Law 19:29; Yos 7:15; Amu 20:6; Rum 1:27Yule mwenye nyumba akatoka nje na kuwaambia, “Hapana, ndugu zangu msiwe waovu namna hii, ninawasihi. Kwa kuwa huyu mtu ni mgeni wangu msifanye jambo hili la aibu. 2419:24 Mwa 19:8; Kum 21:14Tazameni, hapa yupo binti yangu ambaye ni bikira na suria wa huyu mtu. Nitawatoleeni hawa sasa, mkawatwae kwa nguvu na kuwafanyia lolote mtakalo. Lakini kwa mtu huyu msimfanyie jambo ovu hivyo.”
2519:25 Mwa 20:5; 1Sam 31:4Lakini wale watu hawakumsikia. Hivyo yule mtu akamtoa yule suria wake nje kwa wale watu, nao wakambaka na kumnajisi usiku ule kucha mpaka asubuhi. Kulipoanza kupambazuka wakamwachia aende. 26Alfajiri yule mwanamke akarudi kwenye ile nyumba bwana wake alikokuwa, akaanguka chini mlangoni, akalala pale hata kulipopambazuka.
27Bwana wake alipoamka asubuhi na kufungua mlango wa nyumba na kutoka nje ili kuendelea na safari yake, tazama, yule suria wake alikuwa ameanguka pale penye ingilio la nyumba na mikono yake ikiwa penye kizingiti cha chini. 28Akamwambia yule suria, “Inuka, twende.” Lakini hakujibu. Yule bwana akamwinua akampandisha juu ya punda wake, wakaondoka kwenda nyumbani.
2919:29 Mwa 22:6; Amu 20:6; 1Sam 11:7Alipofika nyumbani, akachukua kisu na kumkatakata yule suria kiungo kwa kiungo, sehemu kumi na mbili, na kuvipeleka hivyo vipande katika sehemu zote za Israeli. 3019:30 Hes 9:9; Amu 20:7; Mit 13:10Kila mtu aliyeona akasema, “Jambo la namna hii halijaonekana wala kutendeka, tangu Israeli walipopanda kutoka Misri. Fikirini juu ya jambo hili! Tafakarini juu ya jambo hili! Tuambieni tufanye nini!”
A Levite and His Concubine
1In those days Israel didn’t have a king.
There was a Levite who lived deep in the hill country of Ephraim. He got a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But she wasn’t faithful to him. She left him. She went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there for four months. 3Then her husband went to see her. He tried to talk her into coming back with him. He had his servant and two donkeys with him. She took her husband into her parents’ home. When her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4His father-in-law, the woman’s father, begged him to stay. So the Levite remained with him for three days. He ate, drank and slept there.
5On the fourth day they got up early. The Levite prepared to leave. But the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat. It will give you strength. Then you can go on your way.” 6So the two of them sat down. They ate and drank together. After that, the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight. Enjoy yourself.” 7The man got up to go. But his father-in-law talked him into staying. So he stayed there that night. 8On the morning of the fifth day, the Levite got up to go. But the woman’s father said, “Have something to eat. It will give you strength. Wait until this afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9Then the man got up to leave. His concubine and his servant got up when he did. But his father-in-law, the woman’s father, spoke to him again. “Look,” he said. “It’s almost evening. The day is nearly over. So spend another night here. Please stay. Enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and go back home.” 10But the man didn’t want to stay another night. So he left. He went toward Jebus. Jebus is also called Jerusalem. The Levite had his two donkeys and his concubine with him. The donkeys had saddles on them.
11By the time the travelers came near Jebus, the day was almost over. So the servant said to his master, “Come. Let’s stop at this Jebusite city. Let’s spend the night here.”
12His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city where strangers live. The people there aren’t Israelites. We’ll continue on to Gibeah.” 13He added, “Come. Let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah. We can spend the night in one of those places.” 14So they continued on. As they came near Gibeah in Benjamin, the sun went down. 15They stopped there to spend the night. They went to the city’s main street and sat down. But no one took them home for the night.
16That evening an old man came into the city. He had been working in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim. But he was living in Gibeah. The people who lived there were from the tribe of Benjamin. 17The old man saw the traveler in the main street. He asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18The Levite answered, “We’ve come from Bethlehem in Judah. We’re on our way to Ephraim. I live deep in the hill country there. I’ve been to Bethlehem. Now I’m going to the house of the Lord. But no one has taken me home for the night. 19We have straw and feed for our donkeys. We have food and wine for ourselves. We have enough for me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20“You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “I’d be happy to supply anything you might need. But don’t spend the night in the street.” 21So the old man took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After the travelers had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
22They were inside enjoying themselves. But some of the evil men who lived in the city surrounded the house. They pounded on the door. They shouted to the old man who owned the house. They said, “Bring out the man who came to your house. We want to have sex with him.”
23The owner of the house went outside. He said to them, “No, my friends. Don’t do such an evil thing. This man is my guest. So don’t do this terrible thing. 24Look, here is my virgin daughter. And here’s the Levite’s concubine. I’ll bring them out to you now. You can have them. Do to them what you want to. But don’t do such a terrible thing to this man.”
25The men wouldn’t listen to him. So the Levite sent his concubine out to them. They forced her to have sex with them. They raped her all night long. As the night was ending, they let her go. 26At sunrise she went back to the house where her master was staying. She fell down at the door. She stayed there until daylight.
27Later that morning her master got up. He opened the door of the house. He stepped out to continue on his way. But his concubine was lying there. She had fallen at the doorway of the house. Her hands were reaching out toward the door. 28He said to her, “Get up. Let’s go.” But there wasn’t any answer. Then he put her dead body on his donkey. And he started out for home.
29When he reached home, he got a knife. He cut up his concubine. He cut her into 12 pieces. He sent them into all the territories of Israel. 30Everyone who saw it spoke to one another. They said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen or done before. Nothing like this has happened since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So let’s hear your ideas!”
