Lot & His Two Daughters

00:00:00 Speaker 1: This is an iHeart Podcast. 00:00:02 Speaker 2: Guaranteed human. 00:00:04 Speaker 3: Previously on The Chosen People. 00:00:08 Speaker 4: We're in the throes of arranging the wedding. I have been working tirelessly. You could not imagine the intricacies. But it is a labor of love. My daughters, Keziah and Milka, deserve nothing less. 00:00:21 Speaker 2: And they will make lovely brides. 00:00:26 Speaker 4: And the match will be most beneficial for both our houses. Of course there's our noble line. We can trace our family history back to Noah, if you can believe that, through his son Shem. 00:00:37 Speaker 5: The evil and vile atrocities have caused a great outcry against its people. 00:00:44 Speaker 2: It has become so great before the God Almighty that he has sent us to destroy it. 00:00:50 Speaker 4: Destroy it? 00:00:51 Speaker 5: Yes, the city. 00:00:54 Speaker 6: The city will be destroyed. 00:00:56 Speaker 5: Destroy it? 00:00:57 Speaker 3: The lightning strikes intensified, a harrowing force of nature and judgment. It was as if thick tongues of flame were licking the city of Sodom. The bright white inferno of lightning from above met the blue flames from below, and all that was caught in the middle was melted into the molten mess that writhed beneath that blue purifying fire. 00:01:21 Speaker 6: But you must go now. Remember what we told you. Don't look back. And don't stop. 00:01:30 Speaker 4: I can't. I can't do this, Lot. I cannot follow you again. 00:01:36 Speaker 5: Edith! 00:01:37 Speaker 7: Edith! 00:01:42 Speaker 5: Edith! 00:01:43 Speaker 8: Wait! 00:01:44 Speaker 9: Turn around! What are you doing? Where are you going? Edith! 00:01:50 Speaker 7: Mother! 00:01:51 Speaker 8: No! 00:01:52 Speaker 3: Suddenly, the wind shifted and she was in full view from the wall. She gazed upward as if in provocative protest, arms outstretched, and her screen was cut short and she stood still as a pillow. But then her body fell. No, it did not fall. It began to crumble. To Lot's revulsion, the outline of her very body was falling in on itself and dissolving into what appeared to be salt. The wind carried larger and larger chunks until there was a small pile where she once stood. Petrified, his daughters stopped screaming, their eyes wide in horror. Time stood still as the three of them watched a smoky gust carry the rest of her away on a fell wind. His daughter's keening cries filled Lot's ears, driving him to his knees. This episode of The Chosen People contains explicit content that may be triggering for some listeners and inappropriate for young children. Listener discretion is advised. 00:03:07 Speaker 9: Father. 00:03:09 Speaker 7: What? 00:03:10 Speaker 4: You need to come back with me. It's time for the evening meal. You can't just linger up here all day. You're unsettling our new neighbors. I. 00:03:20 Speaker 3: I have. 00:03:21 Speaker 2: I have to. 00:03:24 Speaker 3: I know. 00:03:25 Speaker 4: But it's time to go now. 00:03:27 Speaker 3: Lots held this door to Keziah, placed her hand on her father's arm, and guided him away from the town gate and into the heart of the town Bella, where their mysterious saviors bid them to escape, their new home. She felt her father stiffen with fear the further they retreated into the buildings. This tragedy seemed to have aged him twenty years. Keziah knew her father was afraid to be away from the stone walls for too long. He would humor her and her sister by joining them for the evening meal, Fain going to sleep and returning before dawn. Sometimes she wondered if guilt and regret over what happened to her mother kept him watching on the wall. Or perhaps he feared being trapped within the labyrinth of buildings should fiery judgment fall again. As for Keziah, she wasn't sure what haunted her more. The image of her mother's corpse crumbling into salt or her final words. 00:04:29 Speaker 4: What do you know of it? I've handed you everything. I got you a husband, secured your future and gave you stability. You would have nothing without me. 00:04:40 Speaker 3: Her mother was right. She had simultaneously done everything and expected everything from her. It was impossible to live up to. And yet, nothing had been expected of her younger sister. Milka would never understand the weight upon her shoulders, upon the eldest's shoulders. Her mother was always complaining that Keziah didn't do enough or that she was always falling short of her lofty expectations for her. Her mother had worked hard to rebuild their family's reputation despite the misfortunes and nomadic lifestyle their family had adopted on account of their uncle Abraham. Keziah hardly remembered the city of her birth, Haran, but her mother constantly reminded her of its sophistication and the intricacies of social status. and preserving those intricacies was paramount. Why, her sister Milka, the one their mother clearly favoured, had even been named for their father's sister, their aunt Milka, who was married to their uncle Nahor. Keeping their bloodline was always at the forefront, the bloodline of Shem, because his mother spoke of little else. She had been choosy about her daughter's matches, And it wasn't until they were established in the upper echelons of Sodomite society that she finally struck the arrangements. Their bloodline was not to be compromised under any circumstances. That was her mother's constant refrain. No second-rate family addition would do. Not that that seemed to matter now. She and her sisters betrothed, Zurim and Levin, were killed in the terrible disaster. They were surely burned or buried or worse. But yet, it was their mother who had outright abandoned them. It was now up to Keziah to rebuild their family. Keziah and her father were rounding the corner leading to their lodgings cramped street. Malak, a kind old tanner, and his wife had taken them in the days following the catastrophe at Sodom. Days had turned to weeks and a new sort of routine formed. Lot haunted the wall by the city gate, and Keziah and Milka tried to appear useful to the Tanner and his wife, but their mother had raised them to order a household, not work in one. The transition was uncomfortable for everyone, to say the least. Keziah knew she had to devise a plan, and soon, but she had no idea where to begin. As they approached the dwelling, Keziah's stomach twisted. She saw a familiar gang of men approach her sister Milka, who was waiting for them in the doorway. 00:07:23 Speaker 6: Hebrew girl. 00:07:25 Speaker 5: Pardon me? 00:07:26 Speaker 2: You heard me. Outsiders. Infiltrators. 00:07:32 Speaker 10: How's it only you three escaped Sodom's doom? How'd you make it out in time? I, uh. 00:07:39 Speaker 2: How long till what happens in Sodom happens here? 00:07:41 Speaker 10: There's some angry god after you, huh? 00:07:45 Speaker 6: What'd you do? 00:07:46 Speaker 1: How long are we going to harbour you like the fugitives you are? 00:07:50 Speaker 2: I say we drive them out. Aye, they've outstayed their welcome, they have. 00:07:57 Speaker 3: Keziah hurried to close the distance between her sister and the four men, a silent, bewildered lot in tow. 00:08:04 Speaker 4: Milka, come here. Gentlemen, we mean you no harm. We're just trying to make our way here, same as you. 00:08:12 Speaker 2: Gentlemen? 00:08:13 Speaker 6: Who do you think you are? 00:08:18 Speaker 2: You fine city folk. You think you're. 00:08:21 Speaker 9: Better than me. 00:08:23 Speaker 10: Trying to make your way, you say? I heard you're wearing out your welcome. It's our hospitality and guest rights and all that. Your pa don't work. 00:08:33 Speaker 6: He barely speaks. 00:08:34 Speaker 10: And you two pretty little things think you're too good for us. Noses in the air. Don't think we didn't see the fine clothes you came with and sold. 00:08:44 Speaker 2: What are you girls going to do when the money runs out? Who will protect you then? 00:08:49 Speaker 9: Let go of me! 00:08:53 Speaker 3: Keziah wrenched her arm out of the man's firm grasp as Malak, their host, burst through his doorway, scattering the men. 00:09:01 Speaker 6: Leave them be. 00:09:03 Speaker 5: They're my guests. 00:09:04 Speaker 6: You'll not bring me shame by arming them. 00:09:06 Speaker 4: Oh, thank you, Master Malak. 00:09:11 Speaker 9: Yes, thank you. 00:09:14 Speaker 5: Now, little mistress... I'm not like you, son. Don't need a title or preamble before my name. But you are welcome just the same. You, uh, you are right there, Lord. 00:09:32 Speaker 4: He's fine. He'll be fine. 00:09:37 Speaker 6: If you say so, Mistress. 00:09:40 Speaker 4: Shall we go in and wash up for the evening meal? I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something. Milka, why don't you take father inside? What did you want to speak of? 00:09:55 Speaker 6: Now, I've known those men all my life. I know those looks. Once they get their heads set on trouble, trouble they will have. 00:10:09 Speaker 5: I fear the protection of my roof won't mean much, considering how riled up they are. The business with Sodom got us all on the edge, mistress. You understand? I... I do. 00:10:30 Speaker 4: No, uh. 00:10:31 Speaker 6: No disrespect, little mistress, but I... I don't think you do. 00:10:37 Speaker 5: Now, I know your pa isn't in his right mind, jumping at shadows and his mind wandering here and there. But... I think it's time you move on from here. 00:10:51 Speaker 6: I don't want the trouble those men will bring to be my trouble, too. 00:10:59 Speaker 4: But what will we do? 00:11:00 Speaker 9: Where will we go? How will we live? 00:11:02 Speaker 6: I would tell you to go to your rich uncle across the plain. 00:11:10 Speaker 5: But they're saying the air still ain't fit to breathe. 00:11:14 Speaker 6: It's like fire on the insides and stings your eyes. The whole valley is barren and wild and treacherous for miles and miles. 00:11:23 Speaker 5: Two girls and your father in his condition, it would be a death sentence. 00:11:28 Speaker 4: Then where? 00:11:32 Speaker 5: There's some big caves up in the mountains. Big enough to make like those tents your people favor. You could trap rabbits and grow crops up there too on the flat parts in the foothills. Not many would bother you, and it's remote, and folk around here, they prefer mostly the towns. And me and mine, I can help you out from time to time. My wife made up some food and supplies to. 00:11:56 Speaker 6: Help you out. 00:11:58 Speaker 4: So, you've already decided. You're sending us away? 00:12:04 Speaker 5: It don't sit right with me, but I got mine to worry about. And I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen under my roof. 00:12:14 Speaker 4: But you would send us out to go and starve? 00:12:17 Speaker 6: I told you I don't like it, but you'll find a way. You're a smart girl. You'll find a way for your family to survive. 00:12:27 Speaker 3: The old Tanner's words were like a slap in the face. But he was right. Her mother was right. It seemed it would always fall to her to look after her family. Months passed. and Keziah and her family ran to the caves like fugitives at night. And true to her calling, Keziah ensured that they survived. Their sanity and soundness were held by a thread, but they were alive. True to his word, the Tanner did help them out from time to time when Keziah would sneak into town to beg or barter for food. Lot took to the caves like an animal going to the ground. He cowered in the back corners of the cave, the stone walls to his back, and continued in his listless state. He sprang to life, however, when he caught Keziah creeping back into the cave one day with wine and bread from town. 00:13:21 Speaker 6: Where were you? 00:13:22 Speaker 2: I thought you'd been taken! 00:13:24 Speaker 1: Or burned! 00:13:26 Speaker 2: What did I tell you about leaving the castle? Castle? 00:13:31 Speaker 5: Castle? 00:13:32 Speaker 4: Father's gone mad. I was in town grabbing some odds and ends. I do this every week, Father. 00:13:39 Speaker 2: Insolent girl! I forbid you to leave! 00:13:43 Speaker 11: How am I supposed to protect you when you wander out of sight? 00:13:50 Speaker 2: Wait until your mother hears about this. 00:13:54 Speaker 9: She's dead! We're not in a palace. We're in a cave. 00:13:59 Speaker 4: And it's me who's been keeping you safe. 00:14:02 Speaker 1: Understand i think you're gonna but i tell you one time i tell you i tell you i tell you i tell you but do they listen not only kids these kids edith edith edith Edith, Edith, Edith. 00:14:28 Speaker 6: Edith. 00:14:29 Speaker 2: These kids, Edith. What am I going to do with these. 00:14:33 Speaker 6: Kids, Edith? 00:14:35 Speaker 3: Keziah was dismayed at her father's worsening condition and agitation but was forced to heed him. Milka made for lousy company. She was almost as fearful as their father and followed what Keziah ordered her to do like a phantom of her former chip herself. Keziah hated what they all had become. One morning, Keziah and Milka were outside the caves on the side of the mountain, checking their snares for game. The Tanner had given them a quick tutorial of how to set one and where. It was only successful a fraction of the time. Keziah groaned with frustration when they came upon the third and final trap, finding it empty. They would be feasting on boiled roots again tonight. 00:15:21 Speaker 4: I can't take this any longer. 00:15:24 Speaker 2: I know, Kasaya. 00:15:26 Speaker 4: Oh, do you? 00:15:27 Speaker 9: Kasaya, what's happening to you is also happening to me. You act like all the suffering is on your shoulders. 00:15:35 Speaker 4: That's because it is, Milka. 00:15:38 Speaker 9: It always has been. 00:15:39 Speaker 4: I've been working to keep us alive. I have no intention of dying here in this cave and dissolving into obscurity. We need a way out and a way up. 00:15:51 Speaker 9: What is there to do? We have no connections, no friends, or even neighbors. And father is... well. 00:16:00 Speaker 3: Milka turned to her father, murmuring in the corner of the cave, tracing something with his finger in the air. It was a pitiful sight. He was degenerating before them. The once ambitious and shrewd man they called father had been reduced to a blubbering fool. 00:16:19 Speaker 8: The point is, everyone we knew is dead. We have nothing but the clothes on our backs and the supplies of a stranger. Even our futures were snatched away from us. I should have been married by now. I should have been running my own household. I could have been pregnant with my firstborn by now. 00:16:39 Speaker 4: But now we have nothing. 00:16:41 Speaker 9: Not even hope. 00:16:43 Speaker 4: What about me? It's as you said. What's happening to you is also happening to me. So you would just have us die out here? Die in a cave? 00:16:53 Speaker 9: Well, there's no life here. 00:16:55 Speaker 4: This is it. 00:16:56 Speaker 9: Our line ends with us. Mother would be furious if we. 00:17:00 Speaker 7: Intermarried with anyone in that godforsaken town, and there are not exactly eligible men. 00:17:06 Speaker 9: Roaming the mountainside. 00:17:08 Speaker 7: However, if one were, I would beseech him to come and set these blasted snares properly. I may marry him just out of gratitude and for the promise of a hot meal. 00:17:20 Speaker 9: But the only man for miles is father. 00:17:24 Speaker 3: Milka had a point. Perhaps the only way out of their situation was to stop thinking about their survival and start thinking about their lineage. Maybe it was the malnutrition, but Keziah had become solely focused on their day-to-day survival. What was the next meal? Was it warm enough at night? Where would they find more fresh water? Should they relocate the latrine? And on and on the list went. Of course, Milka, their mother's favorite, would be the one to remind her of their mother's refrain. Their mother would chastise them for not thinking bigger. Their family legacy was larger than all of them. The weight of responsibility once again settled in on Keziah's shoulders. Their mother had raised them to be noble women who would one day carry noble babes. Their duty was to steward the family line and wealth until they successfully raised the next generation. Well, the wealth was gone, but Keziah needed to find a way to preserve the line. They would need to seek out worthy husbands. Milka was right. The men in town were simple-minded townsfolk at best and carousing thugs at worst. They would not do The cities of the plain had been wiped off the face of the earth, and their way to anyone else was blocked. If only they could get to their uncle Abraham and his family in Hebron, or even their uncle Nahor in Ur. Surely Milka's namesake would not turn them away. But both were inaccessible, and besides, Keziah did not know the way to Ur, but she knew it was very far and dangerous. That's when a thought took root in. 00:19:10 Speaker 11: The back of her mind like a weed slowly coiling over a garden flower. The idea squeezed, intensifying with each moment. Keziah had a dark idea. The only family they had left was their father. Her sister had just said it, in passing, but still. Perhaps the answer was right there in front of them. Keziah frowned. The prospect of lying with her father was not appealing, but she supposed it was not so different from the arranged marriages of her ancestors or even her extended family. Her uncle Nahor married his niece, their aunt Milka, and even her uncle Abraham was married to his half-sister. The desperation of her situation was beginning to present like an ember of hope, and for the first time in a long time, Keziah felt like she finally had a heading, a way forward. 00:20:09 Speaker 4: Did you get it? 00:20:10 Speaker 2: Yes, I got it. 00:20:12 Speaker 4: And keep your voice down. We don't want him to hear. 00:20:14 Speaker 1: Fine. 00:20:17 Speaker 3: Fine. 00:20:18 Speaker 4: Father? Father, how was your day? 00:20:22 Speaker 2: What? 00:20:23 Speaker 4: Your day. 00:20:24 Speaker 2: Oh, it was fine, child. 00:20:28 Speaker 4: I have some good news. I found that we have wine. 00:20:31 Speaker 2: I thought we had no more since we came here. 00:20:36 Speaker 4: We must have misplaced it. 00:20:38 Speaker 9: Let's drink to our good fortune of finding it. 00:20:43 Speaker 2: As you say, daughters, we have so little else. 00:20:49 Speaker 3: Keziah handed her father the sole cup they had. She had filled it almost to the brim with wine she had stolen from the town. She had nothing to barter or bargain with, so she resigned herself to thievery to hatch their schemes. Lot drank the first few sips of the wine and then offered it to Milka, who feigned a swig. Lot then offered it to Keziah, and she did the same. Keziah then passed it back to her father, and on and on it went. With their meagre dinner, it did not take long for the wine's effect to take hold of their father. He was seen drunk and did not realize where he was or what he was doing. 00:21:31 Speaker 1: Edith, Edith, is that you, Edith? Look, the girls have found wine. Isn't this a fine vintage, Edith? 00:21:45 Speaker 4: No, Father, it's... Oh, yes, Lot, that's wonderful. 00:21:52 Speaker 3: The two women went along with what their father was saying until he was so drunk he didn't realize when they were before him or not. Keziah set her jaw and nodded for her sister to leave. She then took her father by the hand and led him to his bedroll in the back of the cave. She had her way with him. Every moment made her shudder, but at least she was in control. In the depths of the dark, damp cave, she was authoring her own destiny. If she had paid any attention to the God of Abraham, she would have understood that a new Sodom was being reborn in that cave. Indulgence, self-reliance, and blurred lines between the sacred and profane. 00:22:37 Speaker 4: Was it disgusting? 00:22:39 Speaker 11: Terrible? 00:22:40 Speaker 4: Not so terrible. Different than what I would have expected. 00:22:45 Speaker 3: Keziah could not bring herself to admit it to her sister or even say it out loud. But what she had felt last night was less disgust and more power. She had taken control of her destiny for the first time in a long time. Maybe for the first time ever. She was so rarely in control, and so much had been taken for her. A deep, dark part of her reveled in the power she exacted over her father. 00:23:15 Speaker 4: But he was so drunk that he had no idea who I was or if I was even there. 00:23:20 Speaker 8: Perhaps that's for the best. 00:23:23 Speaker 4: It just doesn't seem right. Don't do that. Don't judge me. You agreed to this plan, same as me. And you know you still have to do this as well. 00:23:34 Speaker 9: I know, but I still wonder what he would say if he knew. 00:23:40 Speaker 4: Well, he doesn't know. And he won't know. 00:23:45 Speaker 9: Yes, but if he did.... 00:23:48 Speaker 4: Well, you know he wouldn't want this. He doesn't know what he wants. He would keep us locked up here in this cave forever... Maybe us producing heirs will be the very thing that brings him to his senses and convinces him to lead this family again. He won't do it for us, but maybe he'll do it for them. 00:24:07 Speaker 3: Keziah surprised herself with this admission and saw her own pain reflected back in her sister's eyes. They spoke no more of it until evening began to fall, and they repeated the same ritual from the night before. Lot had been groggy and hungover all day, and it took some convincing to get him to agree to accept the wine, but eventually he was so drunk that he again was speaking to people who weren't there and remembering times that had long since passed. 00:24:37 Speaker 4: Milka, what are you waiting for? Do it now! 00:24:41 Speaker 9: I know, I. 00:24:44 Speaker 4: Just do it now, before you lose your nerve. 00:24:46 Speaker 9: I just... Milka. 00:24:51 Speaker 4: This is our only escape. This is the only way out. 00:24:56 Speaker 3: Milka fixed Keziah with a helpless stare, but did as her sister bid her to do. Milka was coerced into taking her father and lying with him, just as her sister had done the night before. Lot awoke the next morning to a pounding in his head and a queasiness in his stomach like he had never experienced before. The cave wall above his head spun as he attempted to sit up. He collapsed back down on his bedroll, too weak and dizzy to change his orientation. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He would stink of wine until he could muster up the strength to draw enough water for a bath or make his way out to a stream. He could already smell the wine seeping from his pores through his sweat. The morning sun was winking at him through the cave's opening, and with a great growl, he forced himself to sit upright to get the light out of his eyes. 00:25:59 Speaker 1: What on earth happened last night? Why are my daughters walking around while I'm still in bed with. 00:26:07 Speaker 2: This massive headache? 00:26:10 Speaker 3: His memory was so hazy he could not remember. But wait. He could remember fragments of memories. Warm bodies touching. The rise and fall of his heartbeat. Sounds echoing through the caves. It all rushed back to him in blurred images. But everything seemed wrong. He felt a pit in his stomach, a churning beyond the queasiness of the wine. 00:26:38 Speaker 2: Surely these memories are from long ago. My wife, Edith, is gone. Too much to drink. My head! Blast it, my head! 00:26:53 Speaker 5: The wine! 00:26:54 Speaker 2: This is the wine. 00:26:58 Speaker 3: Lot placed his hand beside him to steady himself before pushing off the bedroll when he saw it. A long, dark hair. He blinked at it. He lifted his hand and looked around his bed. Several long dark hairs. Who did those belong to? They were certainly not his. The shade and length were wrong. They were, however, a perfect match for his daughters. But how? Surely not. But here was the evidence. And his dream. No, not dream. Memories, he realized. Lot's stomach dropped out and his throat went dry. He hurled, his groans echoing off the cave walls. 00:27:45 Speaker 2: What have I done? What has been done to me? 00:27:51 Speaker 3: He was horrified. How could this have happened, and why? How much lower could the depths of his shame go? He felt worthless, defiled, dirty, violated. And what had been the extent of their coupling? He shuddered. If they were with a child... He couldn't fully wrap his head around that, not right now. Not with the pounding in his head threatening to rob him of his consciousness. He felt sick. Would he ever feel whole or clean again? But if they were, how would the consequences of his daughter's actions unfold? Of his own? He wondered what would become of his daughter's children. His children, in the years to come. This Pray.com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schelleberger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradok, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review. 00:29:27 Speaker 1: This is an iHeart Podcast. 00:29:30 Speaker 5: Guaranteed human.