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.

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, ^(Z)put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; ^(AA)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.

The People’s Obedience

^12 (A)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord. ¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, ^(B)“I am with you, says the Lord.” ¹⁴ So ^(C)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(D)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; ^(E)and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

The Model Prayer^(A)

11 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

² So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

A Friend Comes at Midnight

⁵ And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸ I say to you, ^(D)though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking^(E)

^9 (F)“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; ^(G)seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ^11 (H)If a son asks for ^[e]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give ^(I)good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Sectarianism Is Sin

¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(A)that you all ^[a]speak the same thing, and that there be no ^[b]divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are ^[c]contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that ^(B)each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of ^(C)Apollos,” or “I am of ^(D)Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ^13 (E)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized ^(F)none of you except ^(G)Crispus and ^(H)Gaius, ¹⁵ lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶ Yes, I also baptized the household of ^(I)Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ^(J)not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God^(K)

¹⁸ For the ^[d]message of the cross is ^(L)foolishness to ^(M)those who are perishing, but to us ^(N)who are being saved it is the ^(O)power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

^20 (Q)Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the ^[e]disputer of this age? ^(R)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the ^(S)wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For ^(T)Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, ^(U)to the Jews a ^[f]stumbling block and to the ^[g]Greeks ^(V)foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(W)the power of God and ^(X)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.