1. In those days when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite living as an immigrant in the far corners of the Ephraim highlands. He married a secondary wife from Bethlehem in Judah.
2. In an act of unfaithfulness toward him, his secondary wife left him and went back to her father’s household at Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there four full months.
3. Then her husband set out after her to convince her to come back. He had his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. She took him into her father’s house, and when the young woman’s father saw him, he was happy to welcome him.
4. Since his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, insisted, he stayed with him three days, eating, drinking, and spending the night there.
5. On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning, and he got ready to set out. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, "Eat a little food to give you strength, and then you can go."
6. So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. The young woman’s father said to the man, "Why not spend the night and enjoy yourself?"
7. When the man got ready to set out, his father-in-law persuaded him, and he spent the night there again.
8. On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to set out, and the young woman’s father said, "Have some food for strength." So the two of them ate, sitting around until late in the day.
9. When the man got ready to set out with his secondary wife and servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said, "Look, the day has turned to evening, so spend the night. Seriously, the day is over. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey, and you can head home."
10. But the man was unwilling to spend another night. He got up, set out, and went as far as the area of Jebus, that is, Jerusalem. He had a couple of saddled donkeys and his secondary wife with him.
11. When they were near Jebus, the day was totally gone. The servant said to his master, "Come on, let’s turn into this Jebusite city and spend the night in it."
12. But his master replied to him, “We won’t turn into a city of foreigners who aren’t Israelites. We’ll travel on to Gibeah.
13. "Come on," he said to his servant, "let’s reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places."
14. So they traveled on, and the sun set when they were near Gibeah in Benjamin.