Judges 19:2-20

²But his concubine was unfaithful to him; she left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem of Judah. She stayed there for four months.

³Then her husband got up and went after her in order to persuade her to come back. His servant was with him, and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house. When the girl's father saw him, he was glad.

⁴His father-in-law, the girl's father, persuaded him to stay for three days. They ate and drank, and they spent the night there.

⁵On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen yourself with a bit of bread, then you may go.”

⁶So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Then the girl's father said, “Please be willing to spend the night and have a good time.”

⁷When the Levite got up to leave, the father of the young woman urged him to stay, so he changed his plan and spent the night there again.

⁸On the fifth day he woke up early to leave, but the girl's father said, “Strengthen yourself, and wait until the afternoon.” So the two of them had a meal.

⁹When the Levite and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father said to him, “See, now the day is advancing toward evening. Please stay another night, and have a good time. You can get up early tomorrow and go back home.”

¹⁰But the Levite was not willing to spend the night. He got up and left. He went toward Jebus (that is Jerusalem). He had a pair of saddled donkeys—and his concubine was with him.

¹¹When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come, let us turn aside to the city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”

¹²His master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners who do not belong to the people of Israel. We will go on to Gibeah.”

¹³The Levite said to his young man, “Come, let us go to one of those other places, and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴So they went on, and the sun set as they came near to Gibeah, in the territory of Benjamin.

¹⁵They turned aside there to spend the night in Gibeah. They went and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into his house for the night.

¹⁶But then an old man was coming from his work in the field that evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was staying for a while in Gibeah. But the men living in that place were Benjamites.

¹⁷He raised his eyes and saw the traveler in the city square. The old man said, “Where are you going? Where are you coming from?”

¹⁸The Levite said to him, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, which is where I come from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of Yahweh, but there is no one who will take me into his house.

¹⁹We have straw and feed for our donkeys, and there is bread and wine for me and your female servant here, and for this young man with your servants. We lack nothing.”

²⁰The old man greeted them, “Peace be with you! I will take care of all your needs. Only do not spend the night in the square.”