³⁰ Then they set up the carved image, and they appointed Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses,^[a] as their priest. This family continued as priests for the tribe of Dan until the Exile.

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. ¹¹ The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.

² The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing 4,000 men. ³ After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it^[a] will save us from our enemies.”

⁵ Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.

³ He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.”

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.

²² Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,^[a] for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

²⁹ I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.”