Judges 17–21

Chapter 17

¹And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. ²And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred silver-pieces that were taken from thee, and about which thou didst curse and speak of in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah! ³And he restored the eleven hundred silver-pieces to his mother; and his mother said, I had dedicated the silver to Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; and now I will restore it to thee. ⁴Now he restored the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred silver-pieces and gave them to the founder, and he made of them a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah. ⁵And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. ⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

⁷And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-Judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. ⁸And the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn where he might find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah. ⁹And Micah said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. ¹⁰And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give thee yearly ten silver-pieces, and a suit of garments, and thy victuals. And the Levite went in. ¹¹And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. ¹²And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ¹³Then said Micah, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, because I have the Levite for priest.

Chapter 18

¹In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought for themselves an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day their lot had not fallen to them for inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²And the children of Dan sent of their family five men of their whole number, men of valour, from Zoreah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to examine it; and they said to them, Go, examine the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. ³When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned in thither, and said to him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? ⁴And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah done to me; and he has hired me, and I am his priest. ⁵And they said to him, Inquire, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way on which we go shall be prosperous. ⁶And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way on which ye go.

⁷And the five men departed, and came to Laish; and they saw the people that were therein, dwelling securely, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and no one was in the land who possessed authority, that might put them to shame in anything; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had nothing to do with any man. ⁸—And they came to their brethren at Zoreah and Eshtaol. And their brethren said to them, What say ye? ⁹And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and ye are still! Be not slothful to go, to enter to take possession of the land. ¹⁰When ye go in, ye shall come to a people secure, and the land is spacious in every direction; for God has given it into your hands; it is a place where there is no want of anything that is on the earth. ¹¹And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zoreah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war. ¹²And they went up and encamped in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah; therefore they call that place Mahaneh-Dan to this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim. ¹³And they passed thence to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then the five men that had gone to spy out the country of Laish spoke and said to their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? And now ye know what to do. ¹⁵And they turned thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, the house of Micah, and inquired after his welfare. ¹⁶And the six hundred men of the children of Dan, girded with their weapons of war, stood at the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷And the five men that had gone to spy out the land went up, entered in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were girded with weapons of war. ¹⁸And these came into Micah’s house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. And the priest said to them, What do ye? ¹⁹And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be a priest for the house of one man, or to be priest for a tribe and a family in Israel? ²⁰Then the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. ²¹And they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the baggage before them. ²²They were already far from the house of Micah, when the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. ²³And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? ²⁴And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? and what is this that ye say to me, What aileth thee? ²⁵And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest men of exasperated spirit run upon you, and thou lose thy life and the lives of thy household. ²⁶And the children of Dan went their way; and Micah saw that they were too strong for him, and he turned and went back to his house.

²⁷And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest that he had had, and came upon Laish, upon a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. ²⁸And there was no deliverer, for it was far from Zidon, and they had nothing to do with any man; and it lay in the valley that is by Beth-rehob. And they built the city and dwelt therein. ²⁹And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; howbeit Laish was the name of the city at the first. ³⁰And the children of Dan set up the graven image; and Jehonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses; he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹And they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Chapter 19

¹And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite, sojourning on the further side of mount Ephraim, took him a concubine out of Bethlehem-Judah. ²And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him to her father’s house to Bethlehem-Judah, and was there some time, —four months. ³And her husband rose up and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again; and his servant was with him, and a couple of asses. And she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the damsel saw him he rejoiced to meet him. ⁴And his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, retained him, and he abode with him three days; and they ate and drank, and lodged there. ⁵And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart; and the damsel’s father said to his son-in-law, Refresh thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterwards ye may go your way. ⁶And they sat down, and ate and drank, both of them together. And the damsel’s father said to the man, Be content, I pray thee, and pass the night, and let thy heart be glad. ⁷And the man rose up to depart, but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again. ⁸And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; but the damsel’s father said, Refresh thy heart, I pray thee. And they lingered until the afternoon, and they did eat both of them. ⁹And the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant; and his father-in-law, the damsel’s father, said to him, Behold now, the day draws toward evening—I pray you stay all night; behold, the day is declining, lodge here, and let thy heart be merry; and to-morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go to thy tent. ¹⁰But the man would not tarry the night; and he rose up and departed, and came opposite to Jebus, that is, Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. ¹²But his master said to him, We will not turn aside into the city of a stranger, which is not of the children of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah. ¹³And he said to his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places, and lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah. ¹⁴And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵And they turned aside thither, to go in, to lodge in Gibeah. And he went in, and sat down in the open place of the city; and there was no one that received him into his house to pass the night.

¹⁶And…