1. There was a certain man, a Levite, living beside mount Ephraim, who took a wife from Bethlehem of Judah.
2. She left him, and she returned to the house of her father in Bethlehem. And she stayed with him for four months.
3. And her husband followed her, wishing to be reconciled with her, and to speak kindly to her, and to lead her back with him. And he had with him a servant and two donkeys. And she received him, and brought him into the house of her father. And when his father-in-law had heard about this, and had seen him, he met him with joy.
4. And he embraced the man. And the son-in-law stayed in the house of his father-in-law for three days, eating and drinking with him in a friendly manner.
5. But on the fourth day, arising in the night, he intended to set out. But his father-in-law took hold of him, and he said to him, "First taste a little bread, and strengthen your stomach, and then you shall set out."