Judges 17–21

17 *And there was a man of amount Ephraim, whose name was bMicah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, cBlessed be thou of the Lord, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make da graven image and ea molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to fthe founder, who made thereof da graven image and ea molten image: and they were in the house of bMicah. 5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an gephod, and hteraphim, and †consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In ithose days there was no king in Israel, kbut every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7 And there was a young man out of lBeth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to amount Ephraim to the house of Micah, †as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, mand be unto me a nfather and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by othe year, and ||a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite pwas content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah qconsecrated the Levite; and the young man rbecame his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

18 In athose days there was no king in Israel: and in those days bthe tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, †men of valour, from cZorah, and from Eshtaol, dto spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came eto mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath fhired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said unto him, gAsk counsel, we pray thee, hof God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6 And the priest said unto them, iGo in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go. 7 Then the five men departed, and came to ||Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, kquiet and secure; and there was no †magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man. 8 And they came unto their brethren to lZorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? 9 And they said, mArise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye nstill? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people osecure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; pa place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of lZorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men †appointed with weapons of war. 12 And they went up, and pitched in qKirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place rMahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is sbehind Kirjath-jearim. 13 And they passed thence unto tmount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. 14 Then uanswered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that xthere is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. 15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and †saluted him. 16 And the ysix hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17 And zthe five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took athe graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. 18 And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? 19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, blay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, cand be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? 20 And the priest’s dheart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and ethe carriage before them.

22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, †that thou comest with such a company? 24 And he said, fYe 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 unto me, What aileth thee? 25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest †angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. 26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. 27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were gat quiet and secure: hand they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28 And there was no deliverer, because it was ifar from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by kBeth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. 29 And they called the name of the city lDan, after the name of Dan their father, mwho was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was nLaish at the first. 30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of oGershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day pof the captivity of the land. 31 And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that qthe house of God was in Shiloh.

19 *And it came to pass in those days, awhen there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of bmount Ephraim, who took to him †a concubine out of cBeth-lehem-judah. 2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there ||four whole months. 3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak †friendly unto her, and to bring her again, having his servant 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. 4 And his father in law, the damsel’s father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and drink, and lodged there. 5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, †Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. 6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine dheart be merry. 7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law eurged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they ftarried †until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. 9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day †draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, †the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go †home. 10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came †over against gJebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. 11 And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. 12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to hGibeah. 13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in iRamah. 14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to …