Judges 17–21

Micah’s Idols

17Now a man named Micah^a from the hill country of Ephraim ²said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels^a of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you,^b my son!”

³When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.^c I will give it back to you.”

⁴So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels^b of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol.^d And it was put in Micah’s house.

⁵Now this man Micah had a shrine,^e and he made an ephod^f and some household gods^g and installed^h one of his sons as his priest.^{i 6}In those days Israel had no king;^j everyone did as they saw fit.^k

⁷A young Levite^l from Bethlehem in Judah,^m who had been living within the clan of Judah, ⁸left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way^c he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,ⁿ” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

¹⁰Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father^o and priest,^p and I’ll give you ten shekels^d of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” ¹¹So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹²Then Micah installed^q the Levite, and the young man became his priest^r and lived in his house. ¹³And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”^s

The Danites Settle in Laish

18In those days Israel had no king.^t

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.^{u 2}So the Danites^v sent five of their leading men^w from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out^x the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”^y

So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah,^z where they spent the night. ³When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite;^a so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

⁴He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.^b”

⁵Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God^c to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

⁶The priest answered them, “Go in peace^d. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

⁷So the five men^e left and came to Laish,^f where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.^g And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.^a Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians^h and had no relationship with anyone else.^b

⁸When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

⁹They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.^{i 10}When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing^j whatever.^k”

¹¹Then six hundred men^l of the Danites,^m armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹²On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearimⁿ in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan^co to this day. ¹³From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.^p

¹⁴Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish^q said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod,^r some household gods and an image overlaid with silver?^s Now you know what to do.” ¹⁵So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. ¹⁶The six hundred Danites,^t armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods^u while the priest and the six hundred armed men^v stood at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁸When the five men went into Micah’s house and took^w the idol, the ephod and the household gods,^x the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹They answered him, “Be quiet!^y Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest.^z Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan^a in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” ²⁰The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. ²¹Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

²²When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. ²³As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

²⁴He replied, “You took^b the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ ”

²⁵The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” ²⁶So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,^c turned around and went back home.

²⁷Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure.^d They attacked them with the sword and burned^e down their city.^{f 28}There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon^g and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.^h

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. ²⁹They named it Danⁱ after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.^{j 30}There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom,^k the son of Moses,^d and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. ³¹They continued to use the idol Micah had made,^l all the time the house of God^m was in Shiloh.ⁿ

A Levite and His Concubine

19In those days Israel had no king.

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim^o took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.^{p 2}But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, ³her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. ⁴His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking,^q and sleeping there.

⁵On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself^r with something to eat; then you can go.” ⁶So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.^s” ⁷And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. ⁸On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.

⁹Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” ¹⁰But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus^t (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.

¹¹When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites^u and spend the night.”

¹²His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” ¹³He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah^v and spend the night in one of those places.” ¹⁴So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.^{w 15}There they stopped to spend the night.^x They went and sat in the city square,^y but no one took them in for the night.

¹⁶That evening^z an old man from the hill country of Ephraim,^a who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. ¹⁷When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”^b

¹⁸He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord.^ac No one has taken me in for the night. ¹⁹We have both straw and fodder^d for our donkeys^e and bread and wine^f for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”

²⁰“You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” ²¹So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.^g

²²While they were enjoying themselves,^h some of the wicked menⁱ of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.^j”

²³The owner of the house went outside^k and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.^{l 24}Look, here is my virgin daughter,^m and…