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 ^(R)those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days ^(S)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 ^(T)Zorah and Eshtaol, ^(U)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 ^(V)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 ^(W)hired me, and I have become his priest.”

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

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

⁷ So the five men departed and went to ^(AA)Laish. They saw the people who were there, ^(AB)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 ^(AC)Sidonians, and they had no ties ^[d]with anyone.

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

⁹ So they said, ^(AE)“Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you ^(AF)do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. ¹⁰ When you go, you will come to a ^(AG)secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, ^(AH)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 ^(AI)Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place ^(AJ)Mahaneh Dan^[e] to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) ¹³ And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to ^(AK)the house of Micah.

^14 (AL)Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that ^(AM)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 ^(AN)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 ^(AO)the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took ^(AP)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.

¹⁸ When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹ And they said to him, “Be quiet, ^(AQ)put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; ^(AR)be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” ²⁰ So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people.

²¹ Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them. ²² When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. ²³ And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, ^(AS)“What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?”

²⁴ So he said, “You have ^(AT)taken away my ^[f]gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ”

²⁵ And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest ^[g]angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!” ²⁶ Then the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

Danites Settle in Laish

²⁷ So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; ^(AU)and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. ²⁸ There was no deliverer, because it was ^(AV)far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs ^(AW)to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there. ²⁹ And ^(AX)they called the name of the city ^(AY)Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

³⁰ Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of ^[h]Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan ^(AZ)until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹ So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, ^(BA)all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

The New Birth

3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ^2 (A)This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for ^(B)no one can do these signs that You do unless ^(C)God is with him.”

³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(D)unless one is born ^[a]again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(E)unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is ^(F)flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ^8 (G)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ^(H)“How can these things be?”

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ^11 (I)Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and ^(J)you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (K)No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man ^[b]who is in heaven. ^14 (L)And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so ^(M)must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever ^(N)believes in Him should ^[c]not perish but ^(O)have eternal life. ^16 (P)For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten ^(Q)Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ^17 (R)For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

^18 (S)“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, ^(T)that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For ^(U)everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been ^(V)done in God.”

Praise to the Sovereign Lord for His Creation and Providence^(A)