Judges 17-18
Micah’s Idols
17 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver[a] that were taken from you, on which you put a curse, even speaking the curse in my ears—here is the silver with me. I took it.”
Then his mother said, “May the Lord bless my son!”
3 Then he returned the eleven hundred silver coins to his mother. His mother said, “I certainly consecrated the silver to the Lord, for my son to make a carved idol and a metal idol, so now I return it to you.”
4 When he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver[b] and gave them to a silversmith to make a carved idol and a metal idol. And they were put in the house of Micah.
5 This man Micah owned a shrine. He made an ephod and household idols, and he hired one of his sons to be a priest for him. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his eyes.
7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite from Judah, and he stayed as a resident foreigner there. 8 The man went from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. He came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, to do his work.
9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?”
He said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I can find a place.”
10 Micah said to him, “Live with me, and be a father and a priest for me. I will give you ten silver coins[c] a year, a set of clothes, and food.” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite decided to live with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons. 12 Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will do good for me, for I have a Levite to be my priest.”
The Danites Settle in Laish
18 In those days there was no king in Israel.
And in those days the tribe of the Danites was looking for an inheritance in which to live, for no territory had come into their possession among the tribes of Israel up to that time. 2 So the children of Dan sent out from their families five valorous men from Zorah and Eshtaol in order to spy out and explore the land. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.”
They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they spent the night there. 3 When they were at the house of Micah, they noticed the speech of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”
4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, “He hired me, and I became his priest.”
5 They said to him, “Please ask God if we may know whether our mission will be a success as we go to do it.”
6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace. The Lord is watching the way you are going.”
7 The five men went away and came to Laish. They saw the people who were there, living securely according to the culture of the Sidonians. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians and had no ties with anyone.
8 When they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What do you have to say?”
9 They said, “Get up! Let us go up against them, for we have seen the land. It is very good. You are silent, but do not hesitate to go to take the land. 10 When you go, you will come to a secure people and to an expansive land. For God has given it into your hands: a place where there is no lack of anything on the earth.”
11 So six hundred fully armed men set out from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 They went up and set up camp in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. It is west of Kiriath Jearim. 13 From there they passed the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
14 The five men who went to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that in these houses are an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a metal idol? Now think about what to do.” 15 So they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, to the house of Micah, and greeted him. 16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were the children of Dan, stood at the entrance to the gate. 17 The five men who went to spy out the land went in and took the carved idol, ephod, household idols, and the metal idol. The priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men.
18 When these men went into the house of Micah and took the carved idol, ephod, household idols, and the metal idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19 They said to him, “Quiet! Put your hand over your mouth and go with us. Be a father and priest for us. Is it better to be a priest for one man’s house or for a tribe and a family in Israel?” 20 So the priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image and went among the people. 21 So they turned and left, putting the children, livestock, and valuables in front of them.
22 They had gone far from the house of Micah, but the neighbors of Micah assembled and caught up to the children of Dan. 23 They called out to the children of Dan. So they turned and said to Micah, “What is wrong that have you assembled together?”
24 He said, “You took the gods that I made, and the priest, and then you left. What do I have left? So what is this that you say to me, ‘What is wrong?’ ”
25 The children of Dan said to him, “Do not let us hear your voice again. Otherwise bitter men might meet you and you will forfeit your life and the lives of your family.” 26 So 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.
27 They took what Micah had made and his priest, and came to Laish to a quiet and secure people. They struck them down with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 There was no one to save them because the city was far from Sidon and had no contact with anyone. It was in the valley by Beth Rehob.
They rebuilt the city and lived there. 29 They called the city Dan, after their father Dan, who was born to Israel (Laish was the former name of the city). 30 The children of Dan set up the carved idol for themselves. Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the time of exile from the land. 31 So they displayed Micah’s graven image that he had made, for the whole time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Footnotes:
- Judges 17:2 About 28 pounds, or 13 kilograms.
- Judges 17:4 About 5 pounds, or 2.3 kilograms.
- Judges 17:10 About 4 ounces, or 115 grams.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
John 3:1-21
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again,[a] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can this be?”
10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, but you do not know these things? 11 Truly, truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and bear witness of what We have seen, but you do not receive Our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the verdict, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that it may be revealed that his deeds have been done in God.”
Footnotes:
- John 3:3 Or born from above.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Psalm 104:1-24
Psalm 104
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great!
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 covering Yourself with light as a garment,
who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain,
3 who lays the upper beams of His chambers on the waters above,
who makes the clouds His chariot,
who rides upon the wings of the wind,
4 who makes His angels as winds,
His ministers a flaming fire.
5 You laid the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of Your thunder they departed away.
8 The mountains rose up;
the valleys went down
to the place that You appointed them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass over,
that they may not again cover the earth.
10 You send the springs to gush forth in the valleys,
which flow between the hills.
11 They give drink to every animal of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
13 You water the mountains from Your lofty chamber;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
and plants for the cultivation of man,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine that makes glad the heart of man,
and oil that makes shine his face,
and bread that strengthens his heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that He has planted,
17 where the birds make their nests,
where the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats,
and the rocks a refuge for the badgers.
19 He set the moon to mark the appointed seasons;
the sun knows its time for going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest go forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 When the sun arises, they gather themselves together
and lay down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth to his work
and to his labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
With wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your creatures—
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Proverbs 14:20-21
20 The poor is hated even by his own neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins,
but he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.