1. In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
2. However, she got angry at him and went home to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months,
3. her husband came after her, hoping he could convince her to return. He brought with him his servant and a pair of donkeys. When she brought him into her father’s house and the girl’s father saw him, he greeted him warmly.
4. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, persuaded him to stay with him for three days, and they ate and drank together, and spent the night there.
5. On the fourth day they woke up early and the Levite got ready to leave. But the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Have a bite to eat for some energy, then you can go.”
6. So the two of them sat down and had a meal together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Why not stay another night and have a good time!”
7. When the man got ready to leave, his father-in-law convinced him to stay another night.
8. He woke up early in the morning on the fifth day so he could leave, but the girl’s father said, “Get some energy. Wait until later in the day to leave!” So they ate a meal together.
9. When the man got ready to leave with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look! The day is almost over! Stay another night! Since the day is over, stay another night here and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and start your trip home.”
10. But the man did not want to stay another night. He left and traveled as far as Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11. When they got near Jebus, it was getting quite late and the servant said to his master, “Come on, let’s stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night in it.”
12. But his master said to him, “We should not stop at a foreign city where non-Israelites live. We will travel on to Gibeah.”
13. He said to his servant, “Come on, we will go into one of the other towns and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
14. So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.
15. They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night.