The Daily Audio Bible
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Micah’s Idols
17 There was a man named Micah who lived in the mountains of Ephraim. 2 He said to his mother, “I heard you speak a curse about the twenty-eight pounds of silver that were taken from you. I have the silver with me; I took it.”
His mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”
3 Micah gave the twenty-eight pounds of silver to his mother. Then she said, “I will give this silver to the Lord. I will have my son make an idol and a statue. So I will give the silver back to you.”
4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took about five pounds and gave it to a silversmith. With it he made an idol and a statue, which stood in Micah’s house. 5 Micah had a special holy place, and he made a holy vest and some household idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest. 6 At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.
7 There was a young man who was a Levite[a] from the city of Bethlehem in Judah who was from the people of Judah. 8 He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live, and on his way he came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim. 9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
He answered, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m looking for a place to live.”
10 Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and my priest. I will give you four ounces of silver each year and clothes and food.” So the Levite went in. 11 He agreed to live with Micah and became like one of Micah’s own sons. 12 Micah made him a priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know the Lord will be good to me, because I have a Levite as my priest.”
Dan’s Family Captures Laish
18 At that time Israel did not have a king. And at that time the tribe of Dan was still looking for a land where they could live, a land of their own. The Danites had not yet been given their own land among the tribes of Israel. 2 So, from their family groups, they chose five soldiers from the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out and explore the land. They were told, “Go, explore the land.”
They came to the mountains of Ephraim, to Micah’s house, where they spent the night. 3 When they came near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite.[b] So they stopped there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here?”
4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, “He hired me. I am his priest.”
5 They said to him, “Please ask God if our journey will be successful.”
6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace. The Lord is pleased with your journey.”
7 So the five men left. When they came to the city of Laish, they saw that the people there lived in safety, like the people of Sidon. They thought they were safe and had plenty of everything. They lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone else.
8 When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you find?”
9 They answered, “We have seen the land, and it is very good. We should attack them. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t wait! Let’s go and take that land! 10 When you go, you will see there is plenty of land—plenty of everything! The people are not expecting an attack. Surely God has handed that land over to us!”
11 So six hundred Danites left Zorah and Eshtaol ready for war. 12 On their way they set up camp near the city of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is named Mahaneh Dan[c] to this day. 13 From there they traveled on to the mountains of Ephraim. Then they came to Micah’s house.
14 The five men who had explored the land around Laish said to their relatives, “Do you know in one of these houses there are a holy vest, household gods, an idol, and a statue? You know what to do.” 15 So they stopped at the Levite’s house, which was also Micah’s house, and greeted the Levite. 16 The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance gate, wearing their weapons of war. 17 The five spies went into the house and took the idol, the holy vest, the household idols, and the statue. The priest and the six hundred men armed for war stood by the entrance gate.
18 When the spies went into Micah’s house and took the image, the holy vest, the household idols, and the statue, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”
19 They answered, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us and be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man’s house or for a tribe and family group in Israel?” 20 This made the priest happy. So he took the holy vest, the household idols, and the idol and went with the Danites. 21 They left Micah’s house, putting their little children, their animals, and everything they owned in front of them.
22 When they had gone a little way from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called out and caught up with them. 23 The men with Micah shouted at the Danites, who turned around and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you? Why have you been called out to fight?”
24 Micah answered, “You took my gods that I made and my priest. What do I have left? How can you ask me, ‘What’s the matter?’”
25 The Danites answered, “You should not argue with us. Some of our angry men might attack you, killing you and your family.” 26 Then the Danites went on their way. Micah knew they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home.
27 Then the Danites took what Micah had made and his priest and went on to Laish. They attacked those peaceful people and killed them with their swords and then burned the city. 28 There was no one to save the people of Laish. They lived too far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else. Laish was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The people of Dan rebuilt the city and lived there. 29 They changed the name of Laish to Dan, naming it for their ancestor Dan, one of the sons of Israel.
30 The people of Dan set up the idols in the city of Dan. Jonathan son of Gershom, Moses’ son, and his sons served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the land was captured. 31 The people of Dan set up the idols Micah had made as long as the Holy Tent of God was in Shiloh.
Nicodemus Comes to Jesus
3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader. 2 One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom.”
4 Nicodemus said, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?”
5 But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus asked, “How can this happen?”
10 Jesus said, “You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don’t accept what we tell you. 12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.[a]
14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,[b] the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.
16 “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son. 19 They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. 20 All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. 21 But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God.”
Praise to God Who Made the World
104 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with glory and majesty;
2 you wear light like a robe.
You stretch out the skies like a tent.
3 You build your room above the clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot,
and you ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers,
and flames of fire are your servants.
5 You built the earth on its foundations
so it can never be moved.
6 You covered the earth with oceans;
the water was above the mountains.
7 But at your command, the water rushed away.
When you thundered your orders, it hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank.
The water went to the places you made for it.
9 You set borders for the seas that they cannot cross,
so water will never cover the earth again.
10 You make springs pour into the ravines;
they flow between the mountains.
11 They water all the wild animals;
the wild donkeys come there to drink.
12 Wild birds make nests by the water;
they sing among the tree branches.
13 You water the mountains from above.
The earth is full of the things you made.
14 You make the grass for cattle
and vegetables for the people.
You make food grow from the earth.
15 You give us wine that makes happy hearts
and olive oil that makes our faces shine.
You give us bread that gives us strength.
16 The Lord’s trees have plenty of water;
they are the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted.
17 The birds make their nests there;
the stork’s home is in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats.
The rocks are hiding places for the badgers.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun always knows when to set.
20 You make it dark, and it becomes night.
Then all the wild animals creep around.
21 The lions roar as they attack.
They look to God for food.
22 When the sun rises, they leave
and go back to their dens to lie down.
23 Then people go to work
and work until evening.
24 Lord, you have made many things;
with your wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
20 The poor are rejected, even by their neighbors,
but the rich have many friends.
21 It is a sin to hate your neighbor,
but being kind to the needy brings happiness.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.