Judges 19:4–15

⁴His 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.

⁵On 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 ^fand then you can go.” ⁶So 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.” ^g7The man got up to go, but his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed and spent the night there again. ⁸He 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. ⁹The 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.”

¹⁰But the man was unwilling to spend the night. He got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem ^h). The man had his two saddled donkeys and his concubine with him. ¹¹When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant ⁱsaid to his master, “Please, why not ^jlet us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here?”

¹²But his master replied to him, “We will not stop at a foreign city where there are no Israelites. Let’s move on to Gibeah.” ^k13“Come on,” he said, ^l“let’s try to reach one of these places and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” ¹⁴So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. ¹⁵They stopped ^mto go in and spend the night in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into their home to spend the night.