Judges 19:4–15

⁴And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there.

⁵Now it happened on the fourth day that they got up early in the morning, and he arose to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “^aSustain ¹yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.”

⁶So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night, and ^alet your heart be merry.”

⁷Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law pressed him so that he turned back and spent the night there.

⁸And on the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain ¹yourself and wait until ²afternoon”; so both of them ate.

⁹Then the man arose to go along with his concubine and young man, and his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn ¹to a close; please spend the night. Behold, the day is ²coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go to your tent.”

¹⁰But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and went and came to a place before ^aJebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him.

¹¹They were alongside of Jebus, and the day was almost gone. And ^athe young man said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”

¹²However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; but we will pass on by until Gibeah.”

¹³Then he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin.

¹⁵Then they turned aside there in order to enter and to spend the night in Gibeah. So ¹they entered and sat down in the open square of the city. Now no one was taking them into his house to spend the night.