Micah’s Idols

17 There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. ² One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces^[a] of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.”

“The Lord bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. 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.”

⁴ So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. 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.

⁶ In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

⁷ One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area. ⁸ He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through. ⁹ “Where are you from?” Micah asked him.

He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.”

¹⁰ “Stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver^[b] a year, plus a change of clothes and your food.” ¹¹ The Levite agreed to this, and the young man became like one of Micah’s sons.

¹² So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. ¹³ “I know the Lord will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.”

Idolatry in the Tribe of Dan

18 Now in those days Israel had no king. And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place where they could settle, for they had not yet moved into the land assigned to them when the land was divided among the tribes of Israel. ² So the men of Dan chose from their clans five capable warriors from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol to scout out a land for them to settle in.

When these warriors arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they came to Micah’s house and spent the night there. ³ While at Micah’s house, they recognized the young Levite’s accent, so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place? Why are you here?” ⁴ He told them about his agreement with Micah and that he had been hired as Micah’s personal priest.

⁵ Then they said, “Ask God whether or not our journey will be successful.”

⁶ “Go in peace,” the priest replied. “For the Lord is watching over your journey.”

⁷ So the five men went on to the town of Laish, where they noticed the people living carefree lives, like the Sidonians; they were peaceful and secure.^[c] The people were also wealthy because their land was very fertile. And they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby.

⁸ When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you find?”

⁹ The men replied, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. What are you waiting for? Don’t hesitate to go and take possession of it. ¹⁰ When you get there, you will find the people living carefree lives. God has given us a spacious and fertile land, lacking in nothing!”

¹¹ So 600 men from the tribe of Dan, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹² They camped at a place west of Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is called Mahaneh-dan^[d] to this day. ¹³ Then they went on from there into the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴ The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish explained to the others, “These buildings contain a sacred ephod, as well as some household idols, a carved image, and a cast idol. What do you think you should do?” ¹⁵ Then the five men turned off the road and went over to Micah’s house, where the young Levite lived, and greeted him kindly. ¹⁶ As the 600 armed warriors from the tribe of Dan stood at the entrance of the gate, ¹⁷ the five scouts entered the shrine and removed the carved image, the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the cast idol. Meanwhile, the priest was standing at the gate with the 600 armed warriors.

¹⁸ When the priest saw the men carrying all the sacred objects out of Micah’s shrine, he said, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹ “Be quiet and come with us,” they said. “Be a father and priest to all of us. Isn’t it better to be a priest for an entire tribe and clan of Israel than for the household of just one man?”

²⁰ The young priest was quite happy to go with them, so he took along the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the carved image. ²¹ They turned and started on their way again, placing their children, livestock, and possessions in front of them.

²² When the people from the tribe of Dan were quite a distance from Micah’s house, the people who lived near Micah came chasing after them. ²³ They were shouting as they caught up with them. The men of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What’s the matter? Why have you called these men together and chased after us like this?”

²⁴ “What do you mean, ‘What’s the matter?’” Micah replied. “You’ve taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!”

²⁵ The men of Dan said, “Watch what you say! There are some short-tempered men around here who might get angry and kill you and your family.” ²⁶ So the men of Dan continued on their way. When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to attack, he turned around and went home.

²⁷ Then, with Micah’s idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of Laish, whose people were peaceful and secure. They attacked with swords and burned the town to the ground. ²⁸ There was no one to rescue the people, for they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby. This happened in the valley near Beth-rehob.

Then the people of the tribe of Dan rebuilt the town and lived there. ²⁹ They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor, Israel’s son, but it had originally been called Laish.

³⁰ Then they set up the carved image, and they appointed Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses,^[e] as their priest. This family continued as priests for the tribe of Dan until the Exile. ³¹ So Micah’s carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle of God remained at Shiloh.

Psalm 89

A psalm^[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

3 Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! ² The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our^[a] hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. ³ Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

⁴ We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. ⁵ It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. ⁶ He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

The Glory of the New Covenant

⁷ The old way,^[b] with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. ⁸ Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? ⁹ If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! ¹⁰ In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. ¹¹ So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

¹² Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. ¹⁴ But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. ¹⁵ Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

¹⁶ But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.