Judges 17:1-19:30

Micah’s Idols 1Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

2said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels That is, about 28 pounds or about 13 kilograms 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, 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. I will give it back to you.”

4So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. 5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.

6In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. 7A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah,

8left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way Or To carry on his profession 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,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.” 10Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams 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 the Levite, and the young man became his priest 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.”

The Danites Settle in Laish 1In those days Israel had no king. 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.

2So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.” So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

3When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; 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.”

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

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

7So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts with the Arameans

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.

10When 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 whatever.” 11Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan Mahaneh Dan means Dan’s camp. to this day.

13From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house. 14Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? 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, 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 while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate.

18When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan 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 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, 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. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city.

28There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. 30There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, Many Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; many other Hebrew manuscripts and some other Septuagint manuscripts Manasseh 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, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

A Levite and His Concubine 1In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But 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, 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 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.” 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 (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 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 and spend the night in one of those places.” 14So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.

15There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night. 16That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, 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?” 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 . Hebrew, Vulgate, Syriac and Targum; Septuagint going home No one has taken me in for the night.

19We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine 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.

22While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men 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.” 23The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.

24Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.” 25But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go.

26At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. 27When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

28He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home. 29When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”