Micah and the Levite

17 There was a man of ^(A)the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. ² And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, ^(B)“Blessed be my son by the Lord.” ³ And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make ^(C)a carved image and ^(D)a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” ⁴ So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother ^(E)took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. ⁵ And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made ^(F)an ephod and ^(G)household gods, and ^(H)ordained^[a] one of his sons, who became his priest. ^6 (I)In those days there was no king in Israel. ^(J)Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

⁷ Now there was a young man of ^(K)Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. ⁸ And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to ^(L)the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. ⁹ And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” ¹⁰ And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me ^(M)a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. ¹¹ And the Levite ^(N)was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. ¹² And Micah ^(O)ordained the Levite, and the young man ^(P)became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

Danites Take the Levite and the Idol

18 ^(Q)In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days ^(R)the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them. ² So the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, ^(S)from Zorah and from Eshtaol, ^(T)to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came ^(U)to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. ³ When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁴ And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: ^(V)he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” ⁵ And they said to him, ^(W)“Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.” ⁶ And the priest said to them, ^(X)“Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.”

⁷ Then the five men departed and came to ^(Y)Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, ^(Z)quiet and unsuspecting, lacking^[b] nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how ^(AA)they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁸ And when they came to their brothers at ^(AB)Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” ⁹ They said, ^(AC)“Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. ^(AD)And will you do nothing? ^(AE)Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. ¹⁰ As soon as you go, you will come to an ^(AF)unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, ^(AG)a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

¹¹ So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, ^(AH)armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, ¹² and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called ^(AI)Mahaneh-dan^[c] to this day; behold, it is west of ^(AJ)Kiriath-jearim. ¹³ And they passed on from there to ^(AK)the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴ Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that ^(AL)in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.” ¹⁵ And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and ^(AM)asked him about his welfare. ¹⁶ Now the 600 men of the Danites, ^(AN)armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ And ^(AO)the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took ^(AP)the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. ¹⁸ And when these went into Micah's house and took ^(AQ)the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” ¹⁹ And they said to him, “Keep quiet; ^(AR)put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us ^(AS)a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” ²⁰ And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

²¹ So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and ^(AT)the goods in front of them. ²² When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan. ²³ And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?” ²⁴ And he said, ^(AU)“You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” ²⁵ And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.” ²⁶ Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

²⁷ But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people ^(AV)quiet and unsuspecting, and ^(AW)struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. ²⁸ And there was no deliverer because it was ^(AX)far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to ^(AY)Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. ²⁹ And they named the city ^(AZ)Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but ^(BA)the name of the city was Laish at the first. ³⁰ And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, ^(BB)son of Moses,^{[d] (BC)}and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day ^(BD)of the captivity of the land. ³¹ So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, ^(BE)as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

O God, Do Not Keep Silence

A Song. A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the ^(A)true vine, and my Father is ^(B)the vinedresser. ^2 (C)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit ^(D)he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, ^(E)that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already ^(F)you are clean ^(G)because of the word that I have spoken to you. ^4 (H)Abide ^(I)in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; ^(J)you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^(K)bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me ^(L)he is thrown away like a branch and withers; ^(M)and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If ^(N)you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ^(O)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ^8 (P)By this my Father is glorified, that you ^(Q)bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ^9 (R)As the Father has loved me, ^(S)so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ^10 (T)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as ^(U)I have kept ^(V)my Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, ^(W)that my joy may be in you, and that ^(X)your joy may be full.

^12 (Y)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ^13 (Z)Greater love has no one than this, ^(AA)that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are ^(AB)my friends ^(AC)if you do what I command you. ^15 (AD)No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant ^(AE)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(AF)all that I have heard from my Father ^(AG)I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but ^(AH)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^(AI)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^(AJ)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, ^(AK)so that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

^18 (AL)“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ^19 (AM)If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because ^(AN)you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ^(AO)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^(AP)they will also persecute you. ^(AQ)If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But ^(AR)all these things they will do to you ^(AS)on account of my name, ^(AT)because they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, ^(AU)they would not have been guilty of sin,^[b] but now they have no excuse for their sin. ^23 (AV)Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ^24 (AW)If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^(AX)they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^(AY)seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But ^(AZ)the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^(BA)‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁶ “But ^(BB)when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, ^(BC)he will bear witness about me. ²⁷ And ^(BD)you also will bear witness, ^(BE)because you have been with me ^(BF)from the beginning.