Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
Day 100 and 79
there was a man named Micah who lived in the hill country of ere.
One day he said to his mother, I heard you place a curse on the person who
stole 1100 pieces of silver from you.
Well, I have the money.
I was the one who took it.
The Lord bless you for admitting it.
His mother replied, He returned the money to her and she said, I
now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord in honor of my son.
I will have an image carved and an idol cast.
So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins
and gave them to a silversmith who made them into an image and an idol.
And these were placed in Micah's house.
Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred
evo and some household idols.
Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.
In those days, Israel had no king.
All the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
One day, a young Levite who had been living in Bethlehem
and Judah arrived in that area.
He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he
came to the hill country of Efraim.
He happened to stop at Micah's house as he was traveling through.
Where are you from?
Micah asked him.
He replied, I am a Levite from Bethlehem and Judah, and I'm
looking for a place to live.
Stay here with me, Micah said, and you can be a father and priest to me.
I will give you 10 pieces of silver a year, plus a change
of clothes and your food.
The Levi had agreed to this and the young man became like one of Micah's sons.
So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and
he lived in Micah's house.
I know the Lord will bless me now, Micah said, because I have
a Levite serving as my priest.
Now, in those days, Israel had no king and the tribe of Dan was trying to find
a place where they could settle for.
They had not yet moved into the land assigned to them when the land was
divided among the tribes of Israel.
So the men of Dan chose from their clans, five capable warriors from
the towns of Zora and est L to scout out a land for them to settle in.
When these warriors arrived in the hill country of Eef Fry, they came to
Micah's house and spent the night there.
While at Micah's house, they recognized the young Levi's accent.
So they went over and asked him, who brought you here?
And what are you doing in this place?
Why are you here?
He told them about his agreement with Micah and that he had been
hired as Micah's personal priest.
Then they said, ask God whether or not our journey will be successful.
Go in peace.
The priest replied, for the Lord is watching over your journey.
So the five man went on to the town of Laish where they noticed the people
living carefree lives like the Ians.
They were peaceful and secure.
The people were also wealthy because their land was very fertile, and
they lived a great distance from Seden and had no allies nearby.
When the men returned to Zuora and S D O, their relatives
asked them, what did you find?
The men replied, come on, let's attack them.
We have seen the land and it is very good.
What are you waiting for?
Don't hesitate to go and take possession of it.
When you get there, you will find the people living carefree lives.
God has given us a spacious and fertile land lacking in nothing.
So 600 men from the tribe of Dan armed with weapons of war
set out from Zora and Esj L.
They camped at a place west of Eth, Girim and Judah, which
is called Mayan to this day.
Then they went on from there into the hill country of Eim
and came to the house of Micah.
The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish, explained to the others.
These buildings contain a sacred ephod as well as some household
idols, a carved image and a cast idol.
What do you think you should do?
Then the five men turned off the road and went over to Micah's house where the
young Levi lived and greeted him kindly as the 600 armed warriors from the tribe
of Dan stood at the entrance of the gate.
The five Scouts entered the shrine and removed the carved image, the sacred Evo,
the household idols, and the cast idol.
Meanwhile, the priest was standing at the gate with the 600 armed warriors.
When the priest saw the man carrying all the sacred objects out of Micah
Shrine, he said, what are you doing?
Be quiet and come with us.
They said, be a father and priest to all of us.
Isn't it better to be a priest for an entire tribe and clan of Israel than
for the household of just one man?
The young priest was quite happy to go with them, so he took along
the sacred Evo, the household idols and the carved image.
They turned and started on their way again, placing their children livestock
and possessions in front of them.
When the people from the tribe of Dan were quite a distance from
Micah's house, the people who lived near Micah came chasing after them.
They were shouting as they caught up with them.
The men of Dan turned around and said to Micah, what's the matter?
Why have you called these men together and chased after us like this?
What do you mean?
What's the matter?
Micah replied, you've taken away all the gods I have made, and my
priest and I have nothing left.
The men of Dan said, watch what you say.
There are some short-tempered man around here who might get angry
and kill you and your family.
So the men of Dan continued on their way.
When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to attack,
he turned around and went home.
Then with Micah's idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of Laish
whose people were peaceful and secure.
They attacked with swords and burned the town to the ground.
There was no one to rescue the people for.
They lived a great distance from Seiden and had no allies nearby.
This happened in the valley near Beth Reha.
Then the people of the tribe of Dan rebuilt the town and lived there.
They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor Israel's son, but it
had originally been called Laish.
Then they set up the carved image and they appointed Jonathan's son
of son of Moses as their priest.
This family continued as priests for the tribe of Dan until the exile.
So Micah's carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the
tabernacle of God remained a Shiloh.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.