9. Finally, the Levite got up from the meal, so he and his wife and servant could leave. “Look,” his father-in-law said, “it's already late afternoon, and if you leave now, you won't get very far before dark. Stay with us one more night and enjoy yourself. Then you can get up early tomorrow morning and start home.”
10. But the Levite decided not to spend the night there again. He had the saddles put on his two donkeys, then he and his wife and servant travelled as far as Jebus, which is now called Jerusalem.
11. It was beginning to get dark, and the man's servant said, “Let's stop and spend the night in this town where the Jebusites live.”
12. “No,” the Levite answered. “They aren't Israelites, and I refuse to spend the night there. We'll stop for the night at Gibeah,
13. because we can make it to Gibeah or perhaps even to Ramah before dark.”
14. They walked on and reached Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin just after sunset.
15. They left the road and went into Gibeah. But the Levite couldn't find a house where anyone would let them spend the night, and they sat down in the open area just inside the town gates.
16. Soon an old man came in through the gates on his way home from working in the fields. Most of the people who lived in Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, but this man was originally from the hill country of Ephraim.
17. He noticed that the Levite was just in town to spend the night. “Where are you going?” the old man asked. “Where did you come from?”
18. “We've come from Bethlehem in Judah,” the Levite answered. “We went there on a visit. Now we're going to the place where the Lord is worshipped, and later we will return to our home in the hill country of Ephraim. But no one here will let us spend the night in their home.
19. We brought food for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves, so we don't need anything except a place to sleep.”
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.