Micah’s Idols

Chapter 17

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim ² said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”

³ When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”

⁴ So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.

⁵ Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. ⁶ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

⁷ A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, ⁸ left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

¹⁰ Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels^] of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” ¹¹ So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹² Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. ¹³ And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

The Danites Settle in Laish

Chapter 18 

In those days Israel had no king.

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ² So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”

So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. ³ When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

⁴ He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.”

⁵ Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

⁶ The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

⁷ So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.

⁸ When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

⁹ They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over. ¹⁰ When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever.”

¹¹ Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹² On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. ¹³ From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

¹⁴ Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.” ¹⁵ So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. ¹⁶ The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁸ When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹ They answered him, “Be quiet! Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” ²⁰ The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. ²¹ Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

²² When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. ²³ As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

²⁴ He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”

²⁵ The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” ²⁶ So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

²⁷ Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. ²⁸ There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. ²⁹ They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. ³⁰ There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. ³¹ They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Psalm 89

A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

¹ I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;

    with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known

    through all generations.

² I will declare that your love stands firm forever,

    that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

³ You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

    I have sworn to David my servant,

⁴ ‘I will establish your line forever

    and make your throne firm through all generations.’”

⁵ The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,

    your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶ For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?

    Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?

⁷ In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;

    he is more awesome than all who surround him.

⁸ Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?

    You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

⁹ You rule over the surging sea;

    when its waves mount up, you still them.

¹⁰ You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;

    with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

¹¹ The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;

    you founded the world and all that is in it.

¹² You created the north and the south;

    Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.

¹³ Your arm is endowed with power;

    your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.

¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

    love and faithfulness go before you.

¹⁵ Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,

    who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.

¹⁶ They rejoice in your name all day long;

    they celebrate your righteousness.

¹⁷ For you are their glory and strength,

    and by your favor you exalt our horn.

¹⁸ Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,

    our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Once you spoke in a vision,

    to your faithful people you said:

“I have bestowed strength on a warrior;

    I have raised up a young man from among the people.

²⁰ I have found David my servant;

    with my sacred oil I have anointed him.

²¹ My hand will sustain him;

    surely my arm will strengthen him.

²² The enemy will not get the better of him;

    the wicked will not oppress him.

²³ I will crush his foes before him

    and strike down his adversaries.

²⁴ My faithful love will be with him,

    and through my name his horn will be exalted.

²⁵ I will set his hand over the sea,

    his right hand over the rivers.

²⁶ He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,

    my God, the Rock my Savior.’

²⁷ And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,

    the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

²⁸ I will maintain my love to him forever,

    and my covenant with him will never fail.

²⁹ I will establish his line forever,

    his throne as long as the heavens endure.

³⁰ “If his sons forsake my law

    and do not follow my statutes,

³¹ if they violate my decrees

    and fail to keep my commands,

³² I will punish their sin with the rod,

    their iniquity with flogging;

³³ but I will not take my love from him,

    nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

³⁴ I will not violate my covenant

    or alter what my lips have uttered.

³⁵ Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—

    and I will not lie to David—

³⁶ that his line will continue forever

    and his throne endure before me like the sun;

³⁷ it will be established forever like the moon,

    the faithful witness in the sky.”

³⁸ But you have rejected, you have spurned,

    you have been very angry with your anointed one.

³⁹ You have renounced the covenant with your servant

    and have defiled his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰ You have broken through all his walls

    and reduced his strongholds to ruins.

⁴¹ All who pass by have plundered him;

    he has become the scorn of his neighbors.

⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

    you have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³ Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword

    and have not supported him in battle.

⁴⁴ You have put an end to his splendor

    and cast his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵ You have cut short the days of his youth;

    you have covered him with a mantle of shame.

⁴⁶ How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

    How long will your wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷ Remember how fleeting is my life.

    For what futility you have created all humanity!

⁴⁸ Who can live and not see death,

    or who can escape the power of the grave?

⁴⁹ Lord, where is your former great love,

    which in your faithfulness you swore to David?

⁵⁰ Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,

    how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,

⁵¹ the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked,

    with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.

⁵² Praise be to the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.

Chapter 3 

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

⁴ Such confidence we have through Christ before God. ⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. ⁶ He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Greater Glory of the New Covenant

⁷ Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹ If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! ¹⁰ For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. ¹¹ And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.