1. And it cometh to pass, in those days, when there is no king in Israel, that there is a man a Levite, a sojourner in the sides of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he taketh to him a wife, a concubine, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah;
2. and commit whoredom against him doth his concubine, and she goeth from him unto the house of her father, unto Beth-Lehem-Judah, and is there days--four months.
3. And her husband riseth and goeth after her, to speak unto her heart, to bring her back, and his young man [is] with him, and a couple of asses; and she bringeth him into the house of her father, and the father of the young woman seeth him, and rejoiceth to meet him.
4. And keep hold on him doth his father-in-law, father of the young woman, and he abideth with him three days, and they eat and drink, and lodge there.
5. And it cometh to pass, on the fourth day, that they rise early in the morning, and he riseth to go, and the father of the young woman saith unto his son-in-law, `Support thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward ye go on.'
6. And they sit and eat both of them together, and drink, and the father of the young woman saith unto the man, `Be willing, I pray thee, and lodge all night, and let thy heart be glad.'
7. And the man riseth to go, and his father-in-law presseth on him, and he turneth back and lodgeth there.