A Levite and His Concubine

1

In those days, when there was no king in Isra'el, there was a certain Levi living on the far side of the Efrayim hills who took a woman from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah to be his concubine.

2

But his concubine was unfaithful to him and left him to go to her father's house at Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah, where she stayed for some time, four months.

3

Then her husband went after her to persuade her to return; he had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house; and when the girl's father saw him, he was glad to meet him.

4

His father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there; so he remained with him three days; they ate, drank and stayed there.

5

On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to leave. But the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "You'll feel better if you have a bite of food before you leave."

6

So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. Then the girl's father said to the man, "Please stay one more night, and have a good time."

7

The man rose to leave, but his father-in-law pressed him, so he stayed there again.

8

The morning of the fifth day, he got up early to leave; but the girl's father said, "Why don't you have something to eat, and leave this afternoon?" So the two men ate.

9

When the man got up to leave with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Look, it's almost evening. Please stay the night - you see that it's getting late. Stay on, enjoy yourself, and tomorrow get going early on your way home."

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