Judges 17:1–18:6

Micah’s Idolatry

1 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse 1in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.”

3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son ato make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return 1them to you.”

4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made 1them into a graven image and a molten image, and 2they were in the house of Micah.

5 And the man Micah had a 1ashrine and he made an bephod and 2chousehold idols and 3consecrated one of his sons, dthat he might become his priest.

6 In those days athere was no king in Israel; bevery man did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man from aBethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was 1staying there.

8 Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to 1stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the ahill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah.

9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to 1stay wherever I may find a place.”

10 Micah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be aa father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.” So the Levite went in.

11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

12 So Micah 1consecrated the Levite, and the young man abecame his priest and 2lived in the house of Micah.

13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”

Chapter 18

Danites Seek Territory

1 aIn those days there was no king of Israel; and bin those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day 1an inheritance had not 2been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, 1valiant men from aZorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to bthe hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

3 When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?”

4 He said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and aI have become his priest.”

5 They said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous.”

6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going 1has the Lord’s approval.”