Micah’s Idolatry

17 Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was ^(A)Micah. ² And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you ^(B)put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.”

And his mother said, ^(C)“May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!” ³ So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son, to ^(D)make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.” ⁴ Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother ^(E)took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.

⁵ The man Micah had a ^(F)shrine, and made an ^(G)ephod and ^(H)household^[a] idols; and he consecrated 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 from ^(K)Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and ^(L)was staying there. ⁸ The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. ⁹ And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?”

So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.”

¹⁰ Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, ^(M)and be a ^(N)father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. ¹¹ Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹² So Micah ^(O)consecrated^[b] the Levite, and the young man ^(P)became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as ^(Q)priest!”

The Danites Adopt Micah’s Idolatry

18 In ^(A)those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days ^(B)the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. ² So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from ^(C)Zorah and Eshtaol, ^(D)to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the ^(E)house of Micah, and lodged there. ³ While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?”

⁴ He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has ^(F)hired me, and I have become his priest.”

⁵ So they said to him, “Please ^(G)inquire ^(H)of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”

⁶ And the priest said to them, ^(I)“Go in peace. ^[a]The presence of the Lord be with you on your way.”

⁷ So the five men departed and went to ^(J)Laish. They saw the people who were there, ^(K)how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the ^(L)Sidonians, and they had no ties ^[b]with anyone.

⁸ Then the spies came back to their brethren at ^(M)Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”

⁹ So they said, ^(N)“Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you ^(O)do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. ¹⁰ When you go, you will come to a ^(P)secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, ^(Q)a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

¹¹ And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. ¹² Then they went up and encamped in ^(R)Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place ^(S)Mahaneh Dan^[c] to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) ¹³ And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to ^(T)the house of Micah.

^14 (U)Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that ^(V)there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” ¹⁵ So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him. ¹⁶ The ^(W)six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ Then ^(X)the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took ^(Y)the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.

¹³ For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how ^(A)I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and ^(B)tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, ^(C)being more exceedingly zealous ^(D)for the traditions of my fathers.

¹⁵ But when it pleased God, ^(E)who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, ^16 (F)to reveal His Son in me, that ^(G)I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with ^(H)flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Contacts at Jerusalem^(I)

¹⁸ Then after three years ^(J)I went up to Jerusalem to see ^[a]Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But ^(K)I saw none of the other apostles except ^(L)James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

^21 (M)Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which ^(N)were in Christ. ²³ But they were ^(O)hearing only, “He who formerly ^(P)persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they ^(Q)glorified God in me.