Judges 18 - 19
Danites Seek an Inheritance
18aIn those days there was no king of Israel; and bin those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day the land among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them as an inheritance. 2So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, 1men of valor from aZorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to bthe hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3They were near the house of Micah, and they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite. So they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” 4And he said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me, and aI have become his priest.” 5And they said to him, “Ask of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be successful.” 6So the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going is before Yahweh.”
7Then the five men went forth and came to aLaish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the 1manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no 2oppressive conqueror dishonoring them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8So they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9And they said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you be silent? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. 10“When you enter, you will come to a secure people and a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, aa place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”
11Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, 600 men armed with weapons of war set out. 12And they went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place 1,aMahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is 2west of Kiriath-jearim. 13Then they passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
Danites Take Micah’s Idols
14And the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses aan ephod and 1household idols and a graven image and a molten image? So now, know what you should do.” 15Then they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. 16Now the 600 men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, were standing by the entrance of the gate. 17Then the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took athe graven image and the ephod and household idols and the molten image. And the priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. 18Now these had entered into Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod and household idols and the molten image. Then the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19And they said to him, “Be silent; aput your hand over your mouth and come with us and be to us ba father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” 20And the priest’s heart was merry, and he took the ephod and household idols and the graven image and entered among the people.
21Then they turned and went away and put the little ones and the livestock and the valuables in front of them. 22They had gone some distance from the house of Micah, and the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were summoned and then overtook the sons of Dan. 23And they called out to the sons of Dan, who turned 1around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you were summoned together?” 24And he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have besides? So how can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 25Then the sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest men, bitter of soul, fall upon you and you 1lose your life, with the lives of your household.” 26So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27Now they took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and they came to aLaish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire. 28And there was no one to deliver them because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near aBeth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29aAnd they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish. 30Then the sons of Dan set up for themselves athe graven image; and Jonathan, the son of bGershom, the son of 1Moses, che and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the exile of the land. 31So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image which he had made, all the time that the ahouse of God was at Shiloh.
Benjamites Violate a Levite’s Concubine
19Now it happened in those days, when athere was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But his concubine played the harlot against him, and she went away from him to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah and was there for a period of four months. 3Then her husband arose and went after her to aspeak to her heart in order to bring her back, and his young man was with him as well as a pair of donkeys. So she brought him into her father’s house, and the girl’s father saw him and was glad to meet him. 4And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, prevailed upon him; and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. 5Now it happened on the fourth day that they got up early in the morning, and he arose to go; and the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “aSustain 1yourself with a piece of bread, and afterward you may go.” 6So both of them sat down and ate and drank together; and the girl’s father said to the man, “Please be willing to spend the night, and alet your heart be merry.” 7Then the man arose to go, but his father-in-law pressed him so that he turned back and spent the night there. 8And on the fifth day he arose to go early in the morning, and the girl’s father said, “Please sustain 1yourself and wait until 2afternoon”; so both of them ate. 9Then the man arose to go along with his concubine and young man, and his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day has drawn 1to a close; please spend the night. Behold, the day is 2coming to an end; spend the night here that your heart may be merry. Then tomorrow you may arise early for your journey so that you may go to your tent.”
10But the man was not willing to spend the night, so he arose and went and came to a place before aJebus (that is, Jerusalem). And there were with him a pair of saddled donkeys; his concubine also was with him. 11They were alongside of Jebus, and the day was almost gone. And athe young man said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.” 12However, his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners who are not of the sons of Israel; but we will pass on by until Gibeah.” 13Then he said to his young man, “Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” 14So they passed along and went their way, and the sun set on them near Gibeah which belongs to Benjamin. 15Then they turned aside there in order to enter and to spend the night in Gibeah. So 1they entered and sat down in the open square of the city. Now no one was taking them into his house to spend the night.
16But behold, an old man was coming from his work, from the field, at evening. Now the man was from athe hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah, but the men of the place bwere Benjamites. 17And he lifted up his eyes and 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?” 18And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem in Judah. But I am now going to 1the house of Yahweh, and no man is taking me into his house. 19“Yet there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, 1your maidservant, and athe young man who is with your servants; there is no lack of anything.” 20Then the old man said, “aPeace be to you. Only let me take care of all that you lack; however, do not spend the night in the open square.” 21aSo he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.
22They were making their hearts merry, and behold, athe men of the city, certain 1,bvile fellows, surrounded the house, pounding the door; and they spoke to the owner of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house that we may 2know him.” 23Then the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, please do not do evil. Since this man has come into my house, ado not commit this disgraceful act. 24“aBehold, my daughter who is a virgin, and his concubine—please let me bring them out that you may violate them and do to them whatever is good in your eyes. But do not commit such a disgraceful act against this man.” 25But the men were not willing to listen to him. So the man took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them; and they knew her and abused her all night until morning, and they let her go at the 1breaking of dawn. 261As the day began to dawn, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until full daylight.
27Then her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, was lying at the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. 28And he said to her, “Get up and let us go,” abut there was no answer. Then he took her on the donkey; and the man arose and went to his 1home. 29Then he entered his house and took a knife and took hold of his concubine and acut her in twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel. 30And all who saw it said, “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen from the day when the sons of Israel came up from the land of Egypt to this day. Consider it; atake counsel and speak up!”