Rape is rape – Day 2

₁When the two angels came to Sodom that evening, Lot was sitting at the city gate. As soon as he saw them, he got up and went to meet them. He bowed down before them ₂and said, “Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my house. You can wash your feet and stay the night. In the morning you can get up early and go on your way.”

But they answered, “No, we will spend the night here in the city square.”

₃He kept on urging them, and finally they went with him to his house. Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread and prepare a fine meal for the guests. When it was ready, they ate it.

₄Before the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house. All the men of the city, both young and old, were there. ₅They called out to Lot and asked, “Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us!” The men of Sodom wanted to have sex with them.

₆Lot went outside and closed the door behind him. ₇He said to them, “Friends, I beg you, don't do such a wicked thing! ₈Look, I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with them. But don't do anything to these men; they are guests in my house, and I must protect them.”

₉But they said, “Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we will treat you worse than them.” They pushed Lot back and moved up to break down the door. ₁₀But the two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the house, and shut the door. ₁₁Then they struck all the men outside with blindness, so that they couldn't find the door.

₁₂The two men said to Lot, “If you have anyone else here — sons, daughters, sons-in-law, or any other relatives living in the city — get them out of here, ₁₃because we are going to destroy this place. The LORD has heard the terrible accusations against these people and has sent us to destroy Sodom.”

₁₄Then Lot went to the men that his daughters were going to marry, and said, “Hurry up and get out of here; the LORD is going to destroy this place.” But they thought he was joking.

₁₅They turned off the road to go and spend the night there. They went into the city and sat down in the square, but no one offered to take them home for the night.

₁₆While they were there, an old man came by at the end of a day's work in the fields. He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was now living in Gibeah. (The other people there were from the tribe of Benjamin.) ₁₇The old man noticed the traveller in the city square and asked him, “Where do you come from? Where are you going?”

₁₈The Levite answered, “We have been to Bethlehem in Judah, and now we are on our way home deep in the hill country of Ephraim. No one will put us up for the night, ₁₉even though we have fodder and straw for our donkeys, as well as bread and wine for my concubine and me and for my servant. We have everything we need.”

₂₀The old man said, “You are welcome in my home! I'll take care of you; you don't have to spend the night in the square.” ₂₁So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. His guests washed their feet and had a meal.

₂₂They were enjoying themselves when all of a sudden some sexual perverts from the town surrounded the house and started beating on the door. They said to the old man, “Bring out that man that came home with you! We want to have sex with him!”

₂₃But the old man went outside and said to them, “No, my friends! Please! Don't do such an evil, immoral thing! This man is my guest. ₂₄Look! Here is his concubine and my own daughter, who is a virgin. I'll bring them out now, and you can have them. Do with them whatever you want. But don't do such an awful thing to this man!” ₂₅But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took his concubine and put her outside with them. They raped her and abused her all night long and didn't stop until morning.

₂₆At dawn the woman came and fell down at the door of the old man's house, where her husband was. She was still there when daylight came. ₂₇Her husband got up that morning, and when he opened the door to go on his way, he found his concubine lying in front of the house with her hands reaching for the door. ₂₈He said, “Get up. Let's go.” But there was no answer. So he put her body across the donkey and started on his way home. ₂₉When he arrived, he went into the house and got a knife. He took his concubine's body, cut it into twelve pieces, and sent one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel. ₃₀Everyone who saw it said, “We have never heard of such a thing! Nothing like this has ever happened since the Israelites left Egypt! We have to do something about this! What will it be?”