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Micah Makes His Own Religion
17 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country. 2 He said to his mother, “You know[a] the 1,100 pieces of silver which were stolen[b] from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole[c] it, but now I am giving it back to you.”[d] His mother said, “May the Lord reward[e] you, my son!” 3 When he gave back to his mother the 1,100 pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate[f] this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.”[g] 4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she[h] took 200 pieces of silver[i] to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house.[j] 5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine.[k] He made an ephod[l] and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.[m] 6 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.[n]
Micah Hires a Professional
7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.[o] 8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house.[p] 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.”[q] 10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser[r] and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.”[s] 11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah.[t] 12 Micah paid[u] the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house. 13 Micah said, “Now I know the Lord will make me rich,[v] because I have this Levite as my priest.”
The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance
18 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place[w] to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.[x] 2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives,[y] capable men[z] from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house.[aa] 3 As they approached[ab] Micah’s house, they recognized the accent[ac] of the young Levite. So they stopped[ad] there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”[ae] 4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying,[af] “He hired me, and I became his priest.” 5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us,[ag] so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.”[ah] 6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence.[ai] The Lord will be with you on your mission.”[aj]
7 So the five men journeyed on[ak] and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there[al] were living securely, like the Sidonians do,[am] undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.[an] They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.[ao] 8 When the Danites returned to their tribe[ap] in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen[aq] asked them, “How did it go?”[ar] 9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them,[as] for[at] we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic,[au] but don’t hesitate[av] to invade and conquer[aw] the land. 10 When you invade,[ax] you will encounter[ay] unsuspecting people. The land is wide![az] God is handing it over to you—a place that lacks nothing on earth!”[ba]
11 So 600 Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.[bb] 12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan.[bc] It is west[bd] of Kiriath Jearim.) 13 From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house. 14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish[be] said to their kinsmen,[bf] “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.” 15 They stopped[bg] there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah),[bh] and asked him how he was doing.[bi] 16 Meanwhile the 600 Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate.[bj] 17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole[bk] the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the 600 fully armed men.[bl] 18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole[bm] the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser[bn] and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”[bo] 20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.[bp]
21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions.[bq] 22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors[br] gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites[bs] turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?” 24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’”[bt] 25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men[bu] will attack you, and you and your family will die.”[bv] 26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized[bw] they were too strong to resist,[bx] he turned around and went home.
27 Now the Danites[by] took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.[bz] 28 No one came to the rescue because the city[ca] was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone.[cb] The city[cc] was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites[cd] rebuilt the city and occupied it. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons.[ce] But the city’s name used to be Laish. 30 The Danites worshiped[cf] the carved image. Jonathan, descendant[cg] of Gershom, son of Moses,[ch] and his descendants[ci] served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 31 They worshiped[cj] Micah’s carved image[ck] the whole time God’s authorized shrine[cl] was in Shiloh.
Conversation with Nicodemus
3 Now a certain man, a Pharisee[a] named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council,[b] 2 came to Jesus[c] at night[d] and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs[e] that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus replied,[f] “I tell you the solemn truth,[g] unless a person is born from above,[h] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”[i] 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”[j]
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth,[k] unless a person is born of water and spirit,[l] he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh,[m] and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all[n] be born from above.’[o] 8 The wind[p] blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”[q]
9 Nicodemus replied,[r] “How can these things be?”[s] 10 Jesus answered,[t] “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?[u] 11 I tell you the solemn truth,[v] we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but[w] you people[x] do not accept our testimony.[y] 12 If I have told you people[z] about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?[aa] 13 No one[ab] has ascended[ac] into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.[ad] 14 Just as[ae] Moses lifted up the serpent[af] in the wilderness,[ag] so must the Son of Man be lifted up,[ah] 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”[ai]
16 For this is the way[aj] God loved the world: He gave his one and only[ak] Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish[al] but have eternal life.[am] 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,[an] but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned.[ao] The one who does not believe has been condemned[ap] already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only[aq] Son of God. 19 Now this is the basis for judging:[ar] that the light has come into the world and people[as] loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. 21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.[at]
Psalm 104[a]
104 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are magnificent.[b]
You are robed in splendor and majesty.
2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds.[c]
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels on the wings of the wind.[d]
4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant.[e]
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be moved.
6 The watery deep covered it[f] like a garment;
the waters reached[g] above the mountains.[h]
7 Your shout made the waters retreat;
at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off—
8 as the mountains rose up,
and the valleys went down—
to the place you appointed for them.[i]
9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,
so that they would not cover the earth again.[j]
10 He turns springs into streams;[k]
they flow between the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes.[l]
13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace;[m]
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow.[n]
14 He provides grass[o] for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate,[p]
so they can produce food from the ground,[q]
15 as well as wine that makes people glad,[r]
and olive oil to make their faces shine,[s]
as well as bread that sustains them.[t]
16 The trees of the Lord[u] receive all the rain they need,[v]
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 where the birds make nests,
near the evergreens in which the herons live.[w]
18 The wild goats live in the high mountains;[x]
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
19 He made the moon to mark the months,[y]
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule.[z]
20 You make it dark and night comes,[aa]
during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.
21 The lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.[ab]
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
and sleep[ac] in their dens.
23 People then go out to do their work,
and they labor until evening.[ad]
24 How many living things you have made, O Lord![ae]
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;[af]
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
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