And as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were  ¹watching Him closely.

And behold, there was before Him a certain man suffering from  ¹dropsy.

And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?

But they were quiet. And He took hold of him and healed him and sent him away.

And He said to them, Which of you having a  ¹donkey or an ox that falls into a well will not immediately pull it out on the Sabbath day?

And they were not able to reply to these things.

And He told a parable to those who had been invited, when He noticed how they were choosing the places of honor, saying to them,

When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not recline in the place of honor, lest someone more honorable than you may have been invited by him,

And he who invited you and him come and say to you, Give this one that place; and then you begin with shame to occupy the last place.

But when you are invited, go and recline in the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, come up higher. Then you will have glory before all those reclining with you.

For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

And He said also to the one who had invited Him, When you make a morning meal or a dinner, do not call your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and it become a repayment to you.

But when you give a reception, invite the  ¹poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

And you will be blessed, because they do not have anything with which to repay you; for it will be repaid to you in the  ¹resurrection of the righteous.

Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite dwelling in the far end of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.

But his concubine went about as a harlot, and she departed from him to her father's house, to Bethlehem in Judah; and she was there for a period of four months.

Then her husband rose up and came after her to speak to her affectionately and to bring her back, bringing with him his young man and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he rejoiced to see him.

And his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank, and they spent the night there.

And on the fourth day, they rose up early in the morning and got up to go. But the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law, Sustain yourself with a morsel of bread, and afterward you can go.

So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. And the father of the young woman said to the man, Will you not, I beg you, stay overnight and let your heart be merry?

And the man got up to go; but his father-in-law urged him, and he spent the night there again.

Then on the fifth day he rose up early in the morning to go; but the father of the young woman said, Sustain yourself, I beg you, and linger until the day has declined. So the two of them ate.

And when the man got up to go, with his concubine and his young man, his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, Look now, the day is waning toward evening; spend the night, I beg you. Look, the day is drawing to a close. Spend the night here, and let your heart be merry; then rise up early tomorrow for your journey and go home.

But the man did not want to spend the night, so he rose up and left. And he arrived at Jebus (that is, Jerusalem); and with him were a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him.

And when they were at Jebus, the day was far spent; and the young man said to his master, Come now, and let us turn aside toward this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.

And his master said to him, We will not turn aside toward a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.

And he said to his young man, Come and let us approach one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.

And they passed on and went further; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

And they turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. And he went into the city and sat in the square of the city, but no one took them into his house to lodge them.

Then in the evening there came an old man out of the field from his work. Now the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was a sojourner in Gibeah. And the men of that place were Benjaminites.

And he lifted up his eyes and saw the wayfarer in the square of the city. And the old man said, Where are you traveling to, and where have you come from?

And he said to him, We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the far end of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah; and I am going to  ¹my house, and no one takes me into his house.

There are both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine also for myself and your female servant and the young man who is with your servants; there is no need of anything.

And the old man said, Peace be with you. Just let all your needs come upon me; just do not spend the night in the square.

And he brought him to his house and gave his donkeys fodder; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

And while they were making their hearts merry, the men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring out the man who went into your house that we may know him.

And the master of the house came out to them and said to them, No, my brothers; do not do this evil thing, I beg you. Since this man has come into my house, do not commit this folly.

Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out, I beg you; and humble them and do to them what seems good in your sight. But to this man do not do such folly.

But the men did not want to listen to him; so the man took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them; and they knew her. And they abused her all night long until morning; and they let her go when the dawn broke.

And in the early morning the woman came and fell at the entrance of the man's house, where her lord had been until it was light.

And her lord rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house, and he went out to go on his way. And there was his concubine, fallen at the entrance of the house with her hands upon the threshold.

And he said to her, Get up, and let us go. But there was no answer. And he put her upon the donkey; and the man rose up and went to his place.

And when he came to his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her up limb by limb into twelve pieces; and he sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

And when everyone saw this, they said, No such thing has ever happened or been seen since the day the children of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, and take counsel and speak.