Judges 19:1-13 ▼

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.|