Judges 17-18

Judg 17:1 There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

Judg 17:2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and even spoke it in my hearing,—that silver is in my possession; I took it; but now I will return it to you.” And his mother said, “May my son be blessed by the LORD!”

Judg 17:3 Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, “I consecrate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.”

Judg 17:4 So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal; and it was in the house of Micah.

Judg 17:5 This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.

Judg 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

Judg 17:7 Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah. He was a Levite residing there.

Judg 17:8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to live wherever he could find a place. He came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim to carry on his work.

Judg 17:9 Micah said to him, “From where do you come?” He replied, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to live wherever I can find a place.”

Judg 17:10 Then Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your living.”

Judg 17:11 The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

Judg 17:12 So Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

Judg 17:13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.”

Judg 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself a territory to live in; for until then no territory among the tribes of Israel had been allotted to them.

Judg 18:2 So the Danites sent five valiant men from the whole number of their clan, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it; and they said to them, “Go, explore the land.” When they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they stayed there.

Judg 18:3 While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”

Judg 18:4 He said to them, “Micah did such and such for me, and he hired me, and I have become his priest.”

Judg 18:5 Then they said to him, “Inquire of God that we may know whether the mission we are undertaking will succeed.”

Judg 18:6 The priest replied, “Go in peace. The mission you are on is under the eye of the LORD.”

Judg 18:7 The five men went on, and when they came to Laish, they observed the people who were there living securely, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing on earth, and possessing wealth. Furthermore, they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with Aram.

Judg 18:8 When they came to their kinsfolk at Zorah and Eshtaol, they said to them, “What do you report?”

Judg 18:9 They said, “Come, let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, but enter in and possess the land.

Judg 18:10 When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is broad—God has indeed given it into your hands—a place where there is no lack of anything on earth.”

Judg 18:11 Six hundred men of the Danite clan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol,

Judg 18:12 and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day; it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

Judg 18:13 From there they passed on to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

Judg 18:14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land (that is, Laish) said to their comrades, “Do you know that in these buildings there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol of cast metal? Now therefore consider what you will do.”

Judg 18:15 So they turned in that direction and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and greeted him.

Judg 18:16 While the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate,

Judg 18:17 the five men who had gone to spy out the land proceeded to enter and take the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim. The priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

Judg 18:18 When the men went into Micah’s house and took the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

Judg 18:19 They said to him, “Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?”

Judg 18:20 Then the priest accepted the offer. He took the ephod, the teraphim, and the idol, and went along with the people.

Judg 18:21 So they resumed their journey, putting the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.

Judg 18:22 When they were some distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the Danites.

Judg 18:23 They shouted to the Danites, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter that you come with such a company?”

Judg 18:24 He replied, “You take my gods that I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then can you ask me, ‘What is the matter?’ ”

Judg 18:25 And the Danites said to him, “You had better not let your voice be heard among us or else hot-tempered fellows will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.”

Judg 18:26 Then the Danites went their way. When Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

Judg 18:27 The Danites, having taken what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, put them to the sword, and burned down the city.

Judg 18:28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with Aram. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city, and lived in it.

Judg 18:29 They named the city Dan, after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was formerly Laish.

Judg 18:30 Then the Danites set up the idol for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity.

Judg 18:31 So they maintained as their own Micah’s idol that he had made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

DMU Timestamp: August 27, 2012 21:34