20. The old man said, “You are welcome to spend the night in my home and to be my guest, but don't stay out here!”
21. The old man brought them into his house and fed their donkeys. Then he and his guests washed their feet and began eating and drinking.
22. They were having a good time, when some worthless men of that town surrounded the house and started banging on the door and shouting, “A man came to your house tonight. Send him out, so we can have sex with him!”
23. The old man went outside and said, “My friends, please don't commit such a horrible crime against a man who is a guest in my house.
24. Let me send out my daughter instead. She's a virgin. And I'll even send out the man's wife. You can rape them or do whatever else you want, but please don't do such a horrible thing to this man.”
25. The men refused to listen, so the Levite grabbed his wife and shoved her outside. The men raped her and abused her all night long. Finally, they let her go just before sunrise,
26. and it was almost daybreak when she went back to the house where her husband was staying. She collapsed at the door and lay there until sunrise.
27. About that time, her husband woke up and got ready to leave. He opened the door and went outside, where he found his wife lying at the door with her hands on the doorstep.
28. “Get up!” he said. “It's time to leave.”But his wife didn't move.He lifted her body on to his donkey and left.
29. When he got home, he took a butcher's knife and cut her body into twelve pieces. Then he told some messengers, “Take one piece to each tribe of Israel
30. and ask everyone if anything like this has ever happened since Israel left Egypt. Tell them to think about it, talk it over, and tell us what should be done.”Everyone who saw a piece of the body said, “This is horrible! Nothing like this has ever happened since the day Israel left Egypt.”