1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name wasMicah.
2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekelsof silver that were taken from thee,
about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver iswith me; I
took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thouof the LORD, my son.
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekelsof silver to his mother, his mother said,
I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven
image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekelsof
silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and
they were in the house of Micah.
5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated
one of his sons, who became his priest.
6 In those days there wasno king in Israel, butevery man did that which wasright in his own
eyes.
7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who wasa Levite,
and he sojourned there.
8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a
place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I ama Levite of
Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give
thee ten shekelsof silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went
in.
11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one
of his sons.
12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the
house of Micah.
13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my
priest.
1 In those days there wasno king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought
them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all theirinheritance had not fallen unto them
among the tribes of Israel.
2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from
Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go,
search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
3 When they wereby the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and
they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this
place? and what hast thou here?
4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his
priest.
5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our
way which we go shall be prosperous.
6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD isyour way wherein ye go.
7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that weretherein, how
they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there wasno
magistrate in the land, that might put themto shame in anything; and they werefar from the
Zidonians, and had no business with anyman.
8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them,
What sayye?

9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold,
it isvery good: and areye still? be not slothful to go, andto enter to possess the land.
10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into
your hands; a place where there isno want of any thing that isin the earth.
11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six
hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place
Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it isbehind Kirjathjearim.
13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.
14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their
brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image,
and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, evenunto
the house of Micah, and saluted him.
16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which wereof the children of
Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, andcame in thither, andtook the
graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the
entering of the gate with the six hundred men that wereappointed with weapons of war.
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the
teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be
to us a father and a priest: is itbetter for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that
thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
20 And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven
image, and went in the midst of the people.
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before
them.
22 Andwhen they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that werein the houses
near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah,
What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away:
and what have I more? and what isthis thatye say unto me, What aileth thee?
25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry
fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they weretoo strong for
him, he turned and went back unto his house.
27 And they took the thingswhich Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto
Laish, unto a people that wereat quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the
sword, and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there wasno deliverer, because it wasfar from Zidon, and they had no business with
anyman; and it was in the valley that liethby Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt
therein.
29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born
unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city wasLaish at the first.
30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son
of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of
the land.

31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of
God was in Shiloh.
1 And it came to pass in those days, when there wasno king in Israel, that there was a certain
Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of
Bethlehemjudah.
2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's
house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
3 And her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, andto bring her again,
having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she brought him into her father's house:
and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him.
4 And his father in law, the damsel's father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so
they did eat and drink, and lodged there.
5 And it came to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up
to depart: and the damsel's father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine heart with a morsel of
bread, and afterward go your way.
6 And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for the damsel's father had
said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and let thine heart be merry.
7 And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there
again.
8 And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said,
Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law,
the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry
all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to
morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
10 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against
Jebus, which isJerusalem; and there werewith him two asses saddled, his concubine also was
with him.
11 Andwhen they wereby Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master,
Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
12 And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that
isnot of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah.
13 And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all
night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
14 And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they wereby
Gibeah, which belongethto Benjamin.
15 And they turned aside thither, to go in andto lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat
him down in a street of the city: for there wasno man that took them into his house to lodging.
16 And, behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at even, which wasalso of
mount Ephraim; and he sojourned in Gibeah: but the men of the place wereBenjamites.
17 And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city: and the
old man said, Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?
18 And he said unto him, We arepassing from Bethlehemjudah toward the side of mount
Ephraim; from thence amI: and I went to Bethlehemjudah, but I am nowgoing to the house of the
LORD; and there isno man that receiveth me to house.
19 Yet there is both straw and provender for our asses; and there is bread and wine also for me,
and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which iswith thy servants: there isno want of any
thing.
20 And the old man said, Peace bewith thee; howsoever letall thy wants lieupon me; only