4. Since his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, insisted, he stayed with him three days, eating, drinking, and spending the night there.
5. On the fourth day, they got up early in the morning, and he got ready to set out. But the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, "Eat a little food to give you strength, and then you can go."
6. So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. The young woman’s father said to the man, "Why not spend the night and enjoy yourself?"
7. When the man got ready to set out, his father-in-law persuaded him, and he spent the night there again.
8. On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to set out, and the young woman’s father said, "Have some food for strength." So the two of them ate, sitting around until late in the day.
9. When the man got ready to set out with his secondary wife and servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said, "Look, the day has turned to evening, so spend the night. Seriously, the day is over. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey, and you can head home."
10. But the man was unwilling to spend another night. He got up, set out, and went as far as the area of Jebus, that is, Jerusalem. He had a couple of saddled donkeys and his secondary wife with him.
11. When they were near Jebus, the day was totally gone. The servant said to his master, "Come on, let’s turn into this Jebusite city and spend the night in it."
12. But his master replied to him, “We won’t turn into a city of foreigners who aren’t Israelites. We’ll travel on to Gibeah.
13. "Come on," he said to his servant, "let’s reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places."
14. So they traveled on, and the sun set when they were near Gibeah in Benjamin.
15. They turned in to enter there, so they could spend the night in Gibeah, and he went and sat down in the city square. But no one offered to take them home to spend the night.
16. Then in the evening, an old man was coming home from his daily work in the fields. This man was from the Ephraim highlands and was an immigrant in Gibeah, the people of that place being Benjaminites.
17. He looked up and saw the traveler in the city square. "Where are you heading and where have you come from?" the old man asked.
18. "We’re traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the far corners of the Ephraim highlands," he replied to the old man. "That’s where I’m from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m heading to my home. But no one has offered to take me in tonight.
19. We’ve got our own straw and feed for our donkeys, plus food and wine to provide for me, the woman, and my servant with us. We don’t need anything."