Judges 19:22-30

22They were enjoying their time together. Suddenly, some wicked men who lived in the city came to the house. They stood all around it and they hit the door hard. They shouted to the old man who lived there, ‘Bring out the man who came to visit you. We want to have sex with him.’

23The old man went outside to them. He said to them, ‘Friends, do not try to do this very evil thing! This man is a visitor in my house. Do not do such a wicked thing.

24Look! Here is my daughter. She has never had sex with anyone before. Here is my visitor's slave wife too. I will bring them outside to you. Then you can do whatever cruel things you want to do to them. But do not do such a terrible thing to this man.’

25But the men would not agree to this. So the Levite took hold of his slave wife and he pushed her outside. They made her have sex with them all night and they were very cruel to her. At dawn, they let her go.

26She went back to the house where her master was staying. She fell down at the door and she lay there until it became light.

27When her master got up in the morning, he opened the door. He was ready to continue his journey. He saw the woman who was his wife lying on the ground outside the door. She was trying to reach the door with her hands.

28He said to her, ‘Get up. It is time to go!’ But she did not answer. Then he put her on his donkey and he started on his way home.

29When he arrived home, he picked up a knife. He cut his slave wife's body into 12 pieces. Then he sent them to each of Israel's 12 tribes.

30Everyone who saw what he had done said, ‘In all the time since the Israelites left Egypt, nothing as bad as this has ever happened before. We have never seen anything like it. Think carefully about it. We must decide what to do!’