A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and of thick [dark] mist,
Like the dawn spread over the mountains;
There is a [pagan, hostile] people numerous and mighty,
The like of which has never been before
Nor will be again afterward
Even for years of many generations.

But the men would not listen to him. So the man took the Levite’s concubine and brought her outside to them; and they had relations with her and abused her all night until morning; and when daybreak came, they let her go.

“Let the stars of its early dawn be dark;
Let the morning wait in vain for the light,
Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day’s dawning),

“Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,

God is in the midst of her [His city], she will not be moved;
God will help her when the morning dawns.

[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.