Micah Makes Idols and Hires a Priest

Micah belonged to the Ephraim tribe and lived in the hill country.

Micah returned the silver to his mother, and she said, “I give this silver to the Lord, so my son can use it to make an idol.” Turning to her son, she said, “Micah, now the silver belongs to you.” But Micah handed it back to his mother. She took 200 pieces of the silver and gave them to a silver worker, who made them into an idol. They kept the idol in Micah's house.

He had a shrine for worshiping God there at his home, and he had made some idols and a sacred priestly vest. Micah chose one of his own sons to be the priest for his shrine.

One day a young Levite came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. He had been staying with one of the clans of Judah in Bethlehem, but he had left Bethlehem to find a new place to live where he could be a priest.

“Where are you from?” Micah asked. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man answered, “and I'm on my way to find a new place to live.”

Micah said, “Why don't you stay here with me? You can be my priest and tell me what God wants me to do. Every year I'll give you ten pieces of silver and one complete set of clothes, and I'll provide all your food.” The young man went for a walk,

then he agreed to stay with Micah and be his priest. He lived in Micah's house, and Micah treated him like one of his own sons.

Micah said, “I have a Levite as my own priest. Now I know that the Lord will be kind to me.”

These things happened before kings ruled Israel.

The Tribe of Dan Takes Micah's Priest and Idols

About this time, the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live. The other tribes had land, but the people of Dan did not really have any to call their own.

The tribe chose five warriors to represent their clans and told them, “Go and find some land where we can live.” The warriors left the area of Zorah and Eshtaol and went into the hill country of Ephraim. One night they stayed at Micah's house,

The Levite replied, “Micah hired me as his priest.” Then he told them how well Micah had treated him.

Then they went into the hill country of Ephraim. When they came close to Micah's house,

The 600 warriors left the road and went to the house on Micah's property where the young Levite priest lived. They stood at the gate and greeted the priest. Meanwhile, the five men who had been there before went into Micah's house and took the sacred priestly vest and the idols. “Hey!” the priest shouted. “What do you think you're doing?”

They had traveled for some time before Micah asked his neighbors to help him get his things back. He and his men caught up with the people of Dan

Micah answered, “You know what's wrong. You stole the gods I made, and you took my priest. I don't have anything left.”

After saying this, they turned and left. Micah realized there was no way he could win a fight with them, and so he went back home.

The Tribe of Dan Captures Laish

The tribe of Dan took Micah's priest and the things Micah had made, and headed for Laish, which was located in a valley controlled by the town of Beth-Rehob. Laish was defenseless, because it had no walls and was too far from Sidon for the Sidonians to help defend it. The leaders of Laish had not even asked nearby towns to help them in case of an attack. The warriors from Dan made a surprise attack on Laish, killing everyone and burning it down. Then they rebuilt the town and settled there themselves.

Even though the place of worship was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Micah had made. They worshiped the idol, and the Levite was their priest. His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses. His descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan, until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.

The descendants of Joel included Shemaiah, Gog, Shimei, Micah, Reaiah, Baal, and Beerah, a leader of the Reuben tribe. Later, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria took Beerah away as prisoner.

Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal, the grandfather of Micah,

Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal, the grandfather of Micah, and the great-grandfather of Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.

Kohath's youngest son, Uzziel, was the father of Micah and Isshiah.

Uzziel was the father of Micah and the grandfather of Shamir.

Isshiah, Micah's brother, was the father of Zechariah.

At once he called together Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, and his own servant Asaiah. He said,