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.

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Ethan the Ezrahite.

Ministers of the New Covenant

3 ^(A)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, ^(B)as some do, ^(C)letters of recommendation to you, or from you? ^2 (D)You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our^[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. ³ And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of ^(E)the living God, not on ^(F)tablets of stone but on ^(G)tablets of ^(H)human hearts.^[b]

^4 (I)Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ^5 (J)Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but ^(K)our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who has made us sufficient to be ^(L)ministers of ^(M)a new covenant, not of ^(N)the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but ^(O)the Spirit gives life.

⁷ Now if ^(P)the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory ^(Q)that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? ⁹ For if there was glory in ^(R)the ministry of condemnation, ^(S)the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. ¹⁰ Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

¹² Since we have such a hope, ^(T)we are very bold, ¹³ not like Moses, ^(U)who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴ But ^(V)their minds were ^(W)hardened. For to this day, ^(X)when they read ^(Y)the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶ But when ^(Z)one^[c] turns to the Lord, ^(AA)the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord^[d] is the Spirit, and where ^(AB)the Spirit of the Lord is, there is ^(AC)freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, ^(AD)beholding ^(AE)the glory of the Lord,^{[e] (AF)}are being transformed into the same image ^(AG)from one degree of glory to another.^[f] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.