A Very Sad Night

A man called a Levite traveled home from Bethlehem with his wife and his servant. When it got dark, they stopped in a town called Gibeah. They sat in the street. No one let them come into a house.

An old man came home from working in the field. He saw them. He said, Peace be to you! Don't sleep in the street. He took them into his house. He fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and ate.

But wicked men of the town came to the house. They hurt the Levite's wife very badly through the night. In the morning she lay at the door and did not answer. The Levite sent a message to all the tribes of Israel. People said nothing like it had happened since Egypt. This was very evil.