¹¹ Then six hundred men^(A) of the Danites,^(B) armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹² On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim^(C) in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan^[a](D) to this day. ¹³ From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.^(E)

¹⁴ Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish^(F) said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod,^(G) some household gods and an image overlaid with silver?^(H) Now you know what to do.” ¹⁵ So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. ¹⁶ The six hundred Danites,^(I) armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods^(J) while the priest and the six hundred armed men^(K) stood at the entrance of the gate.

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

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

²² When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. ²³ As 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?”

²⁴ He replied, “You took^(Q) 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?’”

²⁵ The 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.” ²⁶ So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,^(R) turned around and went back home.

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

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. ²⁹ They named it Dan^(X) after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.^{(Y) 30} There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom,^(Z) the son of Moses,^[b] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. ³¹ They continued to use the idol Micah had made,^(AA) all the time the house of God^(AB) was in Shiloh.^(AC)

A Levite and His Concubine

19 In those days Israel had no king.

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim^(AD) took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.^{(AE) 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, ³ her 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. ⁴ His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking,^(AF) and sleeping there.

⁵ On 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^(AG) with something to eat; then you can go.” ⁶ So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.^(AH)” ⁷ And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. ⁸ On 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.

⁹ Then 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.”

Psalm 55^[a]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil^[b] of David.

23 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.^{(A) 2} And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation.^(B) He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar^(C) and claims to be Messiah, a king.”^(D)

³ So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

⁴ Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”^(E)

⁵ But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee^(F) and has come all the way here.”

⁶ On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.^{(G) 7} When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod,^(H) who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him.^(I) From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹ He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.^{(J) 10} The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe,^(K) they sent him back to Pilate. ¹² That day Herod and Pilate became friends^(L)—before this they had been enemies.