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.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw ^(A)a new heaven and a new earth, for ^(B)the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw ^(C)the holy city, ^(D)new Jerusalem, ^(E)coming down out of heaven from God, ^(F)prepared ^(G)as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, ^(H)the dwelling place^[a] of God is with man. He will ^(I)dwell with them, and they will be his people,^[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.^{[c] 4 (J)}He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ^(K)death shall be no more, ^(L)neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ And ^(M)he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I ^(N)am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for ^(O)these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he said to me, ^(P)“It is done! ^(Q)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. ^(R)To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. ^7 (S)The one who conquers will have this heritage, and ^(T)I will be his God and ^(U)he will be my son. ^8 (V)But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, ^(W)their portion will be in ^(X)the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is ^(Y)the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

⁹ Then came ^(Z)one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ^(AA)the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you ^(AB)the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And ^(AC)he carried me away in the Spirit to ^(AD)a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ^11 (AE)having the glory of God, ^(AF)its radiance ^(AG)like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall, ^(AH)with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— ¹³ on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve ^(AI)foundations, and ^(AJ)on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ And the one who spoke with me ^(AK)had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶ The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.^[d] Its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall, 144 cubits^[e] by ^(AL)human measurement, which is also ^(AM)an angel's measurement. ¹⁸ The wall was built of ^(AN)jasper, while the city was pure gold, like ^(AO)clear glass. ^19 (AP)The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and ^(AQ)the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

²² And ^(AR)I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city ^(AS)has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for ^(AT)the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light ^(AU)will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth ^(AV)will bring their glory into it, ²⁵ and ^(AW)its gates will never be shut by day—and ^(AX)there will be no night there. ²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷ But ^(AY)nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's ^(AZ)book of life.