nkjv Judges:17-21 SEEK
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*
Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim ,
whose name was Micah .
*
And he said to his mother , "
The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you ,
and on which you put a curse ,
even saying it in my ears--here is the silver with me ;
I took it ."
And his mother said , "
May you be blessed by the LORD ,
my son !"
*
So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother ,
his mother said , "
I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son ,
to make a carved image and a molded image ;
now therefore ,
I will return it to you ."
*
Thus he returned the silver to his mother .
Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith ,
and he made it into a carved image and a molded image ;
and they were in the house of Micah .
*
The man Micah had a shrine ,
and made an ephod and household idols ;
and he consecrated one of his sons ,
who became his priest .
*
In those days there was no king in Israel ;
everyone did what was right in his own eyes .
*
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah ,
of the family of Judah ;
he was a Levite ,
and was staying there .
*
The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place .
Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim ,
to the house of Micah ,
as he journeyed .
*
And Micah said to him , "
Where do you come from ?"
So he said to him , "
I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah ,
and I am on my way to find a place to stay ."
*
Micah said to him , "
Dwell with me ,
and be a father and a priest to me ,
and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year ,
a suit of clothes ,
and your sustenance ."
So the Levite went in .
*
Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man ;
and the young man became like one of his sons to him .
*
So Micah consecrated the Levite ,
and the young man became his priest ,
and lived in the house of Micah .
*
Then Micah said , "
Now I know that the LORD will be good to me ,
since I have a Levite as priest !"
*
In those days there was no king in Israel .
And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in ;
for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them .
*
So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory ,
men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol ,
to spy out the land and search it .
They said to them , "
Go ,
search the land ."
So they went to the mountains of Ephraim ,
to the house of Micah ,
and lodged there .
*
While they were at the house of Micah ,
they recognized the voice of the young Levite .
They turned aside and said to him , "
Who brought you here ?
What are you doing in this place ?
What do you have here ?"
*
He said to them , "
Thus and so Micah did for me .
He has hired me ,
and I have become his priest ."
*
So they said to him , "
Please inquire of God ,
that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous ."
*
And the priest said to them , "
Go in peace .
The presence of the LORD be with you on your way ."
*
So the five men departed and went to Laish .
They saw the people who were there ,
how they dwelt safely ,
in the manner of the Sidonians ,
quiet and secure .
There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything .
They were far from the Sidonians ,
and they had no ties with anyone .
*
Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol ,
and their brethren said to them , "
What is your report ?"
*
So they said , "
Arise ,
let us go up against them .
For we have seen the land ,
and indeed it is very good .
Would you do nothing ?
Do not hesitate to go ,
and enter to possess the land .
*
When you go ,
you will come to a secure people and a large land .
For God has given it into your hands ,
a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth ."
*
And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there ,
from Zorah and Eshtaol ,
armed with weapons of war .
*
Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah . (
Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day .
There it is ,
west of Kirjath Jearim .)
*
And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim ,
and came to the house of Micah .
*
Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren , "
Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod ,
household idols ,
a carved image ,
and a molded image ?
Now therefore ,
consider what you should do ."
*
So they turned aside there ,
and came to the house of the young Levite man--to the house of Micah--and greeted him .
*
The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war ,
who were of the children of Dan ,
stood by the entrance of the gate .
*
Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up .
Entering there ,
they took the carved image ,
the ephod ,
the household idols ,
and the molded image .
The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war .
*
When these went into Micah '
s house and took the carved image ,
the ephod ,
the household idols ,
and the molded image ,
the priest said to them , "
What are you doing ?"
*
And they said to him , "
Be quiet ,
put your hand over your mouth ,
and come with us ;
be a father and a priest to us .
Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man ,
or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel ?"
*
So the priest '
s heart was glad ;
and he took the ephod ,
the household idols ,
and the carved image ,
and took his place among the people .
*
Then they turned and departed ,
and put the little ones ,
the livestock ,
and the goods in front of them .
*
When they were a good way from the house of Micah ,
the men who were in the houses near Micah '
s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan .
*
And they called out to the children of Dan .
So they turned around and said to Micah , "
What ails you ,
that you have gathered such a company ?"
*
So he said , "
You have taken away my gods which I made ,
and the priest ,
and you have gone away .
Now what more do I have ?
How can you say to me , "
What ails you ?"'
*
And the children of Dan said to him , "
Do not let your voice be heard among us ,
lest angry men fall upon you ,
and you lose your life ,
with the lives of your household !"
*
Then the children of Dan went their way .
And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him ,
he turned and went back to his house .
*
So they took the things Micah had made ,
and the priest who had belonged to him ,
and went to Laish ,
to a people quiet and secure ;
and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire .
*
There was no deliverer ,
because it was far from Sidon ,
and they had no ties with anyone .
It was in the valley that belongs to Beth Rehob .
So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there .
*
And they called the name of the city Dan ,
after the name of Dan their father ,
who was born to Israel .
However ,
the name of the city formerly was Laish .
*
Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image ;
and Jonathan the son of Gershom ,
the son of Manasseh ,
and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land .
*
So they set up for themselves Micah '
s carved 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 staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim .
He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah .
*
But his concubine played the harlot against him ,
and went away from him to her father '
s house at Bethlehem in Judah ,
and was there four whole months .
*
Then her husband arose and went after her ,
to speak kindly to her and bring her back ,
having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him .
So she brought him into her father '
s house ;
and when the father of the young woman saw him ,
he was glad to meet him .
*
Now his father-in-law ,
the young woman '
s father ,
detained him ;
and he stayed with him three days .
So they ate and drank and lodged there .
*
Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning ,
and he stood to depart ;
but the young woman '
s father said to his son-in-law , "
Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread ,
and afterward go your way ."
*
So they sat down ,
and the two of them ate and drank together .
Then the young woman '
s father said to the man , "
Please be content to stay all night ,
and let your heart be merry ."
*
And when the man stood to depart ,
his father-in-law urged him ;
so he lodged there again .
*
Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart ,
but the young woman '
s father said , "
Please refresh your heart ."
So they delayed until afternoon ;
and both of them ate .
*
And when the man stood to depart--he and his concubine and his servant--his father-in-law ,
the young woman '
s father ,
said to him , "
Look ,
the day is now drawing toward evening ;
please spend the night .
See ,
the day is coming to an end ;
lodge here ,
that your heart may be merry .
Tomorrow go your way early ,
so that you may get home ."
*
However ,
the man was not willing to spend that night ;
so he rose and departed ,
and came opposite Jebus (
that is ,
Jerusalem ).
With him were the two saddled donkeys ;
his concubine was also with him .
*
They were near Jebus ,
and the day was far spent ;
and the servant said to his master , "
Come ,
please ,
and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it ."
*
But his master said to him , "
We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners ,
who are not of the children of Israel ;
we will go on to Gibeah ."
*
So he said to his servant , "
Come ,
let us draw near to one of these places ,
and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah ."
*
And they passed by and went their way ;
and the sun went down on them near Gibeah ,
which belongs to Benjamin .
*
They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah .
And when he went in ,
he sat down in the open square of the city ,
for no one would take them into his house to spend the night .
*
Just then an old man came in from his work in the field at evening ,
who also was from the mountains of Ephraim ;
he was staying in Gibeah ,
whereas the men of the place were Benjamites .
*
And when he raised his eyes ,
he saw the traveler in the open square of the city ;
and the old man said , "
Where are you going ,
and where do you come from ?"
*
So he said to him , "
We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim ;
I am from there .
I went to Bethlehem in Judah ;
now I am going to the house of the LORD .
But there is no one who will take me into his house ,
*
although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys ,
and bread and wine for myself ,
for your female servant ,
and for the young man who is with your servant ;
there is no lack of anything ."
*
And the old man said , "
Peace be with you !
However ,
let all your needs be my responsibility ;
only do not spend the night in the open square ."
*
So he brought him into his house ,
and gave fodder to the donkeys .
And they washed their feet ,
and ate and drank .
*
As they were enjoying themselves ,
suddenly certain men of the city ,
perverted men ,
surrounded the house and beat on the door .
They spoke to the master of the house ,
the old man ,
saying , "
Bring out the man who came to your house ,
that we may know him carnally !"
*
But the man ,
the master of the house ,
went out to them and said to them , "
No ,
my brethren !
I beg you ,
do not act so wickedly !
Seeing this man has come into my house ,
do not commit this outrage .
*
Look ,
here is my virgin daughter and the man '
s concubine ;
let me bring them out now .
Humble them ,
and do with them as you please ;
but to this man do not do such a vile thing !"
*
But the men would not heed him .
So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them .
And they knew her and abused her all night until morning ;
and when the day began to break ,
they let her go .
*
Then the woman came as the day was dawning ,
and fell down at the door of the man '
s house where her master was ,
till it was light .
*
When her master arose in the morning ,
and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way ,
there was his concubine ,
fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold .
*
And he said to her , "
Get up and let us be going ."
But there was no answer .
So the man lifted her onto the donkey ;
and the man got up and went to his place .
*
When he entered his house he took a knife ,
laid hold of his concubine ,
and divided her into twelve pieces ,
limb by limb ,
and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel .
*
And so it was that all who saw it said , "
No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day .
Consider it ,
confer ,
and speak up !"
*
So all the children of Israel came out ,
from Dan to Beersheba ,
as well as from the land of Gilead ,
and the congregation gathered together as one man before the LORD at Mizpah .
*
And the leaders of all the people ,
all the tribes of Israel ,
presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God ,
four hundred thousand foot soldiers who drew the sword .
* (
Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah .)
Then the children of Israel said , "
Tell us ,
how did this wicked deed happen ?"
*
So the Levite ,
the husband of the woman who was murdered ,
answered and said , "
My concubine and I went into Gibeah ,
which belongs to Benjamin ,
to spend the night .
*
And the men of Gibeah rose against me ,
and surrounded the house at night because of me .
They intended to kill me ,
but instead they ravished my concubine so that she died .
*
So I took hold of my concubine ,
cut her in pieces ,
and sent her throughout all the territory of the inheritance of Israel ,
because they committed lewdness and outrage in Israel .
*
Look !
All of you are children of Israel ;
give your advice and counsel here and now !"
*
So all the people arose as one man ,
saying , "
None of us will go to his tent ,
nor will any turn back to his house ;
*
but now this is the thing which we will do to Gibeah :
We will go up against it by lot .
*
We will take ten men out of every hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel ,
a hundred out of every thousand ,
and a thousand out of every ten thousand ,
to make provisions for the people ,
that when they come to Gibeah in Benjamin ,
they may repay all the vileness that they have done in Israel ."
*
So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city ,
united together as one man .
*
Then the tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin ,
saying , "
What is this wickedness that has occurred among you ?
*
Now therefore ,
deliver up the men ,
the perverted men who are in Gibeah ,
that we may put them to death and remove the evil from Israel !"
But the children of Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brethren ,
the children of Israel .
*
Instead ,
the children of Benjamin gathered together from their cities to Gibeah ,
to go to battle against the children of Israel .
*
And from their cities at that time the children of Benjamin numbered twenty-six thousand men who drew the sword ,
besides the inhabitants of Gibeah ,
who numbered seven hundred select men .
*
Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed ;
every one could sling a stone at a hair '
s breadth and not miss .
*
Now besides Benjamin ,
the men of Israel numbered four hundred thousand men who drew the sword ;
all of these were men of war .
*
Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God .
They said , "
Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin ?"
The LORD said , "
Judah first !"
*
So the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah .
*
And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin ,
and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah .
*
Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah ,
and on that day cut down to the ground twenty-two thousand men of the Israelites .
*
And the people ,
that is ,
the men of Israel ,
encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day .
*
Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening ,
and asked counsel of the LORD ,
saying , "
Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin ?"
And the LORD said , "
Go up against him ."
*
So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day .
*
And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day ,
and cut down to the ground eighteen thousand more of the children of Israel ;
all these drew the sword .
*
Then all the children of Israel ,
that is ,
all the people ,
went up and came to the house of God and wept .
They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening ;
and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD .
*
So the children of Israel inquired of the LORD (
the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days ,
*
and Phinehas the son of Eleazar ,
the son of Aaron ,
stood before it in those days ),
saying , "
Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin ,
or shall I cease ?"
And the LORD said , "
Go up ,
for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand ."
*
Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah .
*
And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day ,
and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times .
*
So the children of Benjamin went out against the people ,
and were drawn away from the city .
They began to strike down and kill some of the people ,
as at the other times ,
in the highways (
one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah )
and in the field ,
about thirty men of Israel .
*
And the children of Benjamin said , "
They are defeated before us ,
as at first ."
But the children of Israel said , "
Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways ."
*
So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar .
Then Israel '
s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba .
*
And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah ,
and the battle was fierce .
But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them .
*
The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel .
And the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites ;
all these drew the sword .
*
So the children of Benjamin saw that they were defeated .
The men of Israel had given ground to the Benjamites ,
because they relied on the men in ambush whom they had set against Gibeah .
*
And the men in ambush quickly rushed upon Gibeah ;
the men in ambush spread out and struck the whole city with the edge of the sword .
*
Now the appointed signal between the men of Israel and the men in ambush was that they would make a great cloud of smoke rise up from the city ,
*
whereupon the men of Israel would turn in battle .
Now Benjamin had begun to strike and kill about thirty of the men of Israel .
For they said , "
Surely they are defeated before us ,
as in the first battle ."
*
But when the cloud began to rise from the city in a column of smoke ,
the Benjamites looked behind them ,
and there was the whole city going up in smoke to heaven .
*
And when the men of Israel turned back ,
the men of Benjamin panicked ,
for they saw that disaster had come upon them .
*
Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel in the direction of the wilderness ;
but the battle overtook them ,
and whoever came out of the cities they destroyed in their midst .
*
They surrounded the Benjamites ,
chased them ,
and easily trampled them down as far as the front of Gibeah toward the east .
*
And eighteen thousand men of Benjamin fell ;
all these were men of valor .
*
Then they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon ;
and they cut down five thousand of them on the highways .
Then they pursued them relentlessly up to Gidom ,
and killed two thousand of them .
*
So all who fell of Benjamin that day were twenty-five thousand men who drew the sword ;
all these were men of valor .
*
But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon ,
and they stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months .
*
And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin ,
and struck them down with the edge of the sword--from every city ,
men and beasts ,
all who were found .
They also set fire to all the cities they came to .
*
Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah ,
saying , "
None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife ."
*
Then the people came to the house of God ,
and remained there before God till evening .
They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly ,
*
and said , "
O LORD God of Israel ,
why has this come to pass in Israel ,
that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel ?"
*
So it was ,
on the next morning ,
that the people rose early and built an altar there ,
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings .
*
The children of Israel said , "
Who is there among all the tribes of Israel who did not come up with the assembly to the LORD ?"
For they had made a great oath concerning anyone who had not come up to the LORD at Mizpah ,
saying , "
He shall surely be put to death ."
*
And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother ,
and said , "
One tribe is cut off from Israel today .
*
What shall we do for wives for those who remain ,
seeing we have sworn by the LORD that we will not give them our daughters as wives ?"
*
And they said , "
What one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Mizpah to the LORD ?"
And ,
in fact ,
no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly .
*
For when the people were counted ,
indeed ,
not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead was there .
*
So the congregation sent out there twelve thousand of their most valiant men ,
and commanded them ,
saying , "
Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword ,
including the women and children .
*
And this is the thing that you shall do :
You shall utterly destroy every male ,
and every woman who has known a man intimately ."
*
So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately ;
and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh ,
which is in the land of Canaan .
*
Then the whole congregation sent word to the children of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon ,
and announced peace to them .
*
So Benjamin came back at that time ,
and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead ;
and yet they had not found enough for them .
*
And the people grieved for Benjamin ,
because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel .
*
Then the elders of the congregation said , "
What shall we do for wives for those who remain ,
since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed ?"
*
And they said , "
There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin ,
that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel .
*
However ,
we cannot give them wives from our daughters ,
for the children of Israel have sworn an oath ,
saying , "
Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin ."'
*
Then they said , "
In fact ,
there is a yearly feast of the LORD in Shiloh ,
which is north of Bethel ,
on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem ,
and south of Lebonah ."
*
Therefore they instructed the children of Benjamin ,
saying , "
Go ,
lie in wait in the vineyards ,
*
and watch ;
and just when the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances ,
then come out from the vineyards ,
and every man catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh ;
then go to the land of Benjamin .
*
Then it shall be ,
when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain ,
that we will say to them , "
Be kind to them for our sakes ,
because we did not take a wife for any of them in the war ;
for it is not as though you have given the women to them at this time ,
making yourselves guilty of your oath ."'
*
And the children of Benjamin did so ;
they took enough wives for their number from those who danced ,
whom they caught .
Then they went and returned to their inheritance ,
and they rebuilt the cities and dwelt in them .
*
So the children of Israel departed from there at that time ,
every man to his tribe and family ;
they went out from there ,
every man to his inheritance .
*
In those days there was no king in Israel ;
everyone did what was right in his own eyes .