Judges:17-18

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* And there was a man of mount Ephraim , whose name was Micah . * And he said unto his mother , The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee , about which thou cursedst , and spakest of also in mine ears , behold , the silver is with me ; I took it . And his mother said , Blessed be thou of the LORD , my son . * And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of 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 . * Yet he restored the money unto his mother ; and his mother took two hundred shekels of 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 . * 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 . * In those days there was no king in Israel , but every man did that which was right in his own eyes . * And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah , who was a Levite , and he sojourned there . * 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 . * And Micah said unto him , Whence comest thou ? And he said unto him , I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah , and I go to sojourn where I may find a place . * And Micah said unto him , Dwell with me , and be unto me a father and a priest , and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year , and a suit of apparel , and thy victuals . So the Levite went in . * And the Levite was content to dwell with the man ; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons . * And Micah consecrated the Levite ; and the young man became his priest , and was in the house of Micah . * Then said Micah , Now know I that the LORD will do me good , seeing I have a Levite to my priest . * In those days there was no king in Israel : and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in ; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel . * 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 . * When they were by 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 ? * And he said unto them , Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me , and hath hired me , and I am his priest . * 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 . * And the priest said unto them , Go in peace : before the LORD is your way wherein ye go . * Then the five men departed , and came to Laish , and saw the people that were therein , how they dwelt careless , after the manner of the Zidonians , quiet and secure ; and there was no magistrate in the land , that might put them to shame in any thing ; and they were far from the Zidonians , and had no business with any man . * And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol : and their brethren said unto them , What say ye ? * And they said , Arise , that we may go up against them : for we have seen the land , and , behold , it is very good : and are ye still ? be not slothful to go , and to enter to possess the land . * 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 is no want of any thing that is in the earth . * 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 . * And they went up , and pitched in Kirjathjearim , in Judah : wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day : behold , it is behind Kirjathjearim . * And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim , and came unto the house of Micah . * 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 . * And they turned thitherward , and came to the house of the young man the Levite , even unto the house of Micah , and saluted him . * And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war , which were of the children of Dan , stood by the entering of the gate . * And the five men that went to spy out the land went up , and came in thither , and took 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 were appointed with weapons of war . * 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 ? * 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 it better 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 ? * 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 . * So they turned and departed , and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them . * And when they were a good way from the house of Micah , the men that were in the houses near to Micah 's house were gathered together , and overtook the children of Dan . * 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 ? * 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 is this that ye say unto me , What aileth thee ? * 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 . * And the children of Dan went their way : and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him , he turned and went back unto his house . * And they took the things which Micah had made , and the priest which he had , and came unto Laish , unto a people that were at quiet and secure : and they smote them with the edge of the sword , and burnt the city with fire . * And there was no deliverer , because it was far from Zidon , and they had no business with any man ; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob . And they built a city , and dwelt therein . * 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 was Laish at the first . * 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 . * And they set them up Micah 's graven image , which he made , all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh . * And it came to pass in those days , when there was no 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 .

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