1. In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite living in a remote part of the hill country of Ephraim acquired a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.
2. But she was unfaithful to him and left him for her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there for a period of four months.
3. Then her husband got up and went after her to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. So she brought him to her father’s house, and when the girl’s father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.
4. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, detained him, and he stayed with him for three days. They ate, drank, and spent the nights there.
5. On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning and prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have something to eat to keep up your strength and then you can go.”
6. So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and enjoy yourself.”
7. The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed and spent the night there again.
8. He got up early in the morning of the fifth day to leave, but the girl’s father said to him, “Please keep up your strength.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.
9. The man got up to go with his concubine and his servant, when his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, night is coming. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, enjoy yourself, then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey and go home.”
10. But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem ). The man had his two saddled donkeys and his concubine with him.
11. When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, why not let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here? ”
12. But his master replied to him, “We will not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites. Let’s move on to Gibeah.”