Judges 17–21

17TH CHAPTER

Micah’s Idolatry

¹There was a man named Micah from the mountain region of Ephraim. ²He told his mother, “You were upset about the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you. I even heard you put a curse on them. Here’s the silver. I took it!” 

His mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!” 

³So Micah gave the 1,100 pieces of silver back to his mother. Then his mother said, “I dedicate this silver to the Lord for my son’s benefit. I want to make a carved idol and a metal idol. So now I’m giving the silver back to you.” 

⁴When Micah returned the silver to his mother, she took 200 pieces of the silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made a carved idol and a metal idol. Both were placed in Micah’s home. ⁵Micah owned a shrine. He also made an ephod^aand household idols. He ordained one of his sons to be his priest. ⁶In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right. 

⁷There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. (Bethlehem belongs to the family of Judah.) He was a Levite but was living in Bethlehem. ⁸This man left Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could find ⸤a place⸥. He came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim to carry on his work. 

⁹Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?” 

The man told him, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m going to live wherever I can find ⸤a place⸥.” 

¹⁰Micah told him, “Stay with me! Be a father and a priest to me. I’ll give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your room and board.” 

The Levite accepted the offer ¹¹and agreed to live with Micah. The young man became like one of Micah’s sons. ¹²Micah ordained the Levite. So the young man became his priest and a part of his family. 

¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me. I have a Levite for my priest.” 

18TH CHAPTER

Micah Brings Idolatry to the Tribe of Dan

¹In those days Israel didn’t have a king. And in those days the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live. Up to that time they had not received land as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel as they should have. ²So all the families of Dan sent out five qualified men from Zorah and Eshtaol. They were sent to spy throughout the land and explore it. They were told, “Go and explore the land!” 

They came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim. They spent the night there. ³While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the young Levite’s voice. So they stopped to ask him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here?” 

⁴The Levite told them what Micah had done for him and added, “Micah hired me, so I became his priest.” 

⁵They said to him, “Please find out from God if our journey will be successful.” 

⁶The priest told them, “Go in peace. The Lord approves of your journey.” 

⁷The five men left there and came to the city of Laish. They saw that the people there lived without a care. These people were like the people of Sidon. They were peaceful and secure. There was no one around who threatened to take away their property by force. They were far from the people of Sidon and totally independent. 

⁸The men went back to their relatives in Zorah and Eshtaol. Their relatives asked them, “What did you find?” 

⁹They replied, “Get up, let’s attack Laish. We saw the land. It’s very good! 

“Don’t just sit there! Go at once and take the land. ¹⁰When you get there, you will come to a secure people. The land is wide open to you. God will hand it over to you. It’s a place where you will have everything you could want.” 

¹¹So 600 men from the tribe of Dan left Zorah and Eshtaol armed for war. ¹²They camped at Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place just west of Kiriath Jearim is still called Mahaneh Dan ^[The Camp of Dan^[ today. ¹³From there they marched to the mountains of Ephraim as far as Micah’s house. ¹⁴Then the five men who had gone to spy throughout the land around Laish spoke up. They said to the other men of Dan, “Do you know that there’s an ephod, a carved idol, a metal idol, and household idols in these houses? What do you think we should do?” 

¹⁵So they stopped and entered Micah’s house and greeted the young Levite. ¹⁶The 600 armed men from Dan stood at the entrance to the city. ¹⁷The five men who had gone to spy throughout the land went inside. They took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the metal idol. The priest stood at the entrance to the city with the 600 armed men. ¹⁸When these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the metal idol, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?” 

¹⁹They told him, “Keep quiet! Don’t say a word! Come with us and be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man’s house or for a tribe in Israel and its families?” 

²⁰The priest was content. He took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved idol and went with the people. ²¹When they left, they put their children, livestock, and property in front of them. 

²²When they had already gone some distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors were called together to help him catch up to the people of Dan. ²³They shouted at them. But the people of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What’s your problem? Why did you call your neighbors together to attack us?” 

²⁴Micah answered, “You’ve taken away the gods I made as well as my priest. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What’s your problem?’ ” 

²⁵The people of Dan replied, “Don’t make another sound, or some violent men will attack you. Then you and your family will lose your lives.” ²⁶The people of Dan went on their way. Micah saw they were stronger than he was, so he turned around and went home. 

²⁷The people of Dan took what Micah had made and the man who had become his priest and went to the city of Laish. They attacked a peaceful and secure people, killed them all with swords, and burned their city. ²⁸There was no one to rescue them because their city was far from Sidon and totally independent. The city was in the valley that belonged to Beth Rehob. The people of Dan rebuilt the city and lived in it. ²⁹They named the city Dan in honor of their ancestor Dan, Israel’s son. Originally, the city was called Laish. 

³⁰The people of Dan set up the carved idol for themselves. Jonathan (son of Gershom and grandson of Moses) and his descendants were priests for Dan’s tribe until the people living in that land were taken captive. ³¹So they set up for themselves the carved idol Micah had made. It stayed there the whole time the house of God was at Shiloh. 

19TH CHAPTER

Sexual Immorality

¹In those days when Israel didn’t have a king, there was a Levite who lived in a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. He took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.^a2But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went to her father’s home, to Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, ³her husband went to persuade her to come back home. He took along his servant and two donkeys. 

She took her husband into her father’s house. Her father was thrilled to see him. ⁴He made the Levite stay there with him, celebrating for three days. 

⁵On the fourth day they got up early in the morning to leave, but the woman’s father told his son-in-law, “Eat something to keep up your strength and then you can go.” ⁶So they both sat down and ate and drank together. The woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Why don’t you spend the night and enjoy yourself?” ⁷When the Levite started to leave, his father-in-law urged him to stay another night, so he did. 

⁸On the morning of the fifth day, the Levite got up early to leave. The woman’s father said, “Eat something to keep up your strength!” So they spent the time eating until late afternoon. ⁹The Levite started to leave with his concubine and his servant. But his father-in-law said to him, “It’s already evening. Please stay another night. It’s too late ⸤to leave⸥ now. Stay here, and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can start out early to go home.” ¹⁰But the Levite refused to spend another night. 

He left and traveled as far as Jebus (now called Jerusalem). He had with him two saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹¹By the time they were near Jebus, it was very late in the day. The Levite’s servant said to him, “Let’s go spend the night in Jebus.” 

¹²The Levite told him, “We’ll never go into a city of foreigners. They’re not Israelites. We’ll go on to Gibeah.” ¹³He told his servant, “Let’s go someplace else. We’ll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah.” 

¹⁴So they went on. It was sunset by the time they arrived at Gibeah. (Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.) ¹⁵They went to spend the night there. The Levite entered Gibeah and sat down in the city square, because no one offered to take them home for the night. 

¹⁶That evening an old man came into the city from his work in the fields. He was from the mountain region of Ephraim but lived in Gibeah. The other people who lived there were from the tribe of Benjamin. ¹⁷He saw the traveler in the city square. So the old man asked, “Where do you come from? And where are you going?” 

¹⁸The Levite replied, “We’re on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. That’s where I’m from. I had gone to Bethlehem in Judah. Now I’m going to the Lord’s house, but no one has offered to take me into his home. ¹⁹We have straw and fodder for our donkeys. I even have bread and wine for myself, the woman, and my servant. We have everything we need.” 

²⁰Then the old man said, “Welcome! Let me take care of your needs. Just don’t spend the night in the city square.” ²¹So he took the Levite to his house and fed the donkeys. After they washed, they ate and drank. 

²²While they were enjoying themselves, some worthless men from the city surrounded the house and pounded on the door. They told the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we can have sex with him.” 

^23 …