Judges 19:1-13 ▼

1 And it comes to pass in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man, a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he takes a wife for himself, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah;

2 and his concubine commits whoredom against him, and she goes from him to the house of her father, to Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there four months of days.

3 And her husband rises and goes after her, to speak to her heart, to bring her back, and his young man [is] with him, and a couple of donkeys; and she brings him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman sees him, and rejoices to meet him.

4 And his father-in-law keeps hold on him, father of the young woman, and he abides with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there.

5 And it comes to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he rises to go, and the father of the young woman says to his son-in-law, “Support your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you go on.”

6 And both of them sit, and eat and drink together, and the father of the young woman says to the man, “Please be willing and lodge all night, and let your heart be glad.”

7 And the man rises to go, and his father-in-law presses on him, and he turns back and lodges there.

8 And he rises early in the morning, on the fifth day, to go, and the father of the young woman says, “Please support your heart”; and they have tarried until the turning of the day, and both of them eat.

9 And the man rises to go, he, and his concubine, and his young man, but his father-in-law, father of the young woman, says to him, “Now behold, the day has fallen toward evening, please lodge all night; behold, the declining of the day! Lodge here and let your heart be glad—and you have risen early tomorrow for your journey, and you have gone to your tent.”

10 And the man has not been willing to lodge all night, and he rises, and goes, and comes in until [he is] opposite Jebus (it [is] Jerusalem), and a couple of saddled donkeys [are] with him; and his concubine [is] with him.

11 They [are] near Jebus, and the day has greatly gone down, and the young man says to his lord, “Please come, and we turn aside to this city of the Jebusite and lodge in it.”

12 And his lord says to him, “Let us not turn aside to the city of a stranger, that is not of the sons of Israel there, but we have passed over to Gibeah.”

13 And he says to his young man, “Come, and we draw near to one of the places, and have lodged in Gibeah, or in Ramah.”