Danites Take the Levite and the Idol

18 ^(A)In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days ^(B)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, ^(C)from Zorah and from Eshtaol, ^(D)to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came ^(E)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: ^(F)he has hired me, and I have become his priest.” ⁵ And they said to him, ^(G)“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, ^(H)“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 ^(I)Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, ^(J)quiet and unsuspecting, lacking^[a] nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how ^(K)they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁸ And when they came to their brothers at ^(L)Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” ⁹ They said, ^(M)“Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. ^(N)And will you do nothing? ^(O)Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. ¹⁰ As soon as you go, you will come to an ^(P)unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, ^(Q)a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

¹¹ So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, ^(R)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 ^(S)Mahaneh-dan^[b] to this day; behold, it is west of ^(T)Kiriath-jearim. ¹³ And they passed on from there to ^(U)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 ^(V)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 ^(W)asked him about his welfare. ¹⁶ Now the 600 men of the Danites, ^(X)armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ And ^(Y)the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took ^(Z)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 ^(AA)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; ^(AB)put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us ^(AC)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 ^(AD)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, ^(AE)“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 ^(AF)quiet and unsuspecting, and ^(AG)struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. ²⁸ And there was no deliverer because it was ^(AH)far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to ^(AI)Beth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. ²⁹ And they named the city ^(AJ)Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but ^(AK)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, ^(AL)son of Moses,^{[c] (AM)}and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day ^(AN)of the captivity of the land. ³¹ So they set up Micah's carved image that he made, ^(AO)as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

A Levite and His Concubine

19 In those days, ^(AP)when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of ^(AQ)the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from ^(AR)Bethlehem in Judah. ² And his concubine was unfaithful to^[d] him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. ³ Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. ⁴ And his father-in-law, the girl's father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. ⁵ And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, ^(AS)“Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” ⁶ So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl's father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and ^(AT)let your heart be merry.” ⁷ And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law pressed him, till he spent the night there again. ⁸ And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. And the girl's father said, ^(AU)“Strengthen your heart and wait until the day declines.” So they ate, both of them. ⁹ And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”

¹⁰ But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite ^(AV)Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had with him a couple of saddled donkeys, and his concubine was with him. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” ¹² And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to ^(AW)Gibeah.” ¹³ And he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at ^(AX)Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, ¹⁵ and they turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. And he went in and sat down in the open square of the city, ^(AY)for no one took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was from ^(AZ)the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. ^(BA)The men of the place were Benjaminites. ¹⁷ And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city. And the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going ^(BB)to the house of the Lord,^{[e] (BC)}but no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. ^(BD)There is no lack of anything.” ²⁰ And the old man said, ^(BE)“Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. ^(BF)Only, do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. ^(BG)And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

Gibeah's Crime

²² As they were ^(BH)making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, ^(BI)surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.” ²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, ^(BJ)do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, ^(BK)do not do this vile thing. ^24 (BL)Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. ^(BM)Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man ^(BN)do not do this outrageous thing.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go. ²⁶ And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.

²⁷ And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” ^(BO)But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home. ²⁹ And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he ^(BP)divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ^30 (BQ)And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; ^(BR)consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

Messengers from John the Baptist

11 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

^2 (A)Now when John heard ^(B)in prison about the deeds of ^(C)the Christ, he sent word by ^(D)his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you ^(E)the one who is to come, or shall we ^(F)look for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ^5 (G)the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers^[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and ^(H)the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who ^(I)is not offended by me.”

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(J)into the wilderness to see? ^(K)A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man^[b] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? ^(L)A prophet?^[c] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

¹¹ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ^12 (N)From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[d] and the violent take it by force. ^13 (O)For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, he is ^(P)Elijah who is to come. ^15 (Q)He who has ears to hear,^[e] let him hear.

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

¹⁸ For John came ^(R)neither eating ^(S)nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came ^(T)eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^(U)a friend of ^(V)tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”^[f]

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

^20 (W)Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. ^21 (X)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^(Y)Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ^22 (Z)But I tell you, it will be more bearable on ^(AA)the day of judgment for ^(AB)Tyre and Sidon than for you. ²³ And you, ^(AC)Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to ^(AD)Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ^24 (AE)But I tell you that ^(AF)it will be more tolerable on ^(AG)the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

^25 (AH)At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, ^(AI)Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(AJ)you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^(AK)revealed them to little children; ²⁶ yes, Father, for such was your ^(AL)gracious will.^{[g] 27 (AM)}All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son ^(AN)except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone ^(AO)to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ^28 (AP)Come to ^(AQ)me, all who labor and are ^(AR)heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and ^(AS)learn from me, for I am ^(AT)gentle and lowly in heart, and ^(AU)you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For ^(AV)my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”