The Judges & Ruth

while the five who had spied out the land went in and took the idol overlaid with silver, the vest and the household gods. The cohen had stayed with the 600 soldiers by the gate.

But when they went into Mikhah's house and took the silver-covered image, the vest and the household gods, the cohen asked them, "What are you doing?"

They replied, "Be quiet, keep your mouth shut, and come with us. Be a father and a cohen for us. Which is better? To be a cohen in the house of one man or to be cohen to a whole tribe and family in Isra'el?"

This made the cohen feel very good; so he took the ritual vest, the household gods and the image and went off with the people.

So they turned and left, with their children, cattle and belongings going ahead of them.

When they were a good distance from Mikhah's house, the men who lived in the houses near his got together [with him], overtook the people from Dan

and began shouting at them. The people from Dan turned and said to Mikhah, "What's wrong with you, that you've gathered such a crowd?"

He answered, "You've taken away my god, which I made, and gone off with the cohen! What more have I got? How can you ask me, 'What's wrong with you?'"

The men from Dan replied, "You had best say no more to us, because some of us might get angry and attack you. You could lose your life, and so might the others in your household."

Then the people from Dan went their way; and when Mikhah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

So they took what Mikhah had made and his cohen. They came to Layish, to a quiet and trusting people. They attacked, killed them and burned down the city.

No one came to rescue them, because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no dealings with other peoples. This was in the valley near Beit-Rechov. Then the people of Dan rebuilt the city and settled there.

They named the city Dan, after Dan their ancestor, who was born to Isra'el; although the city had previously been called Layish.

The people of Dan set up the image for themselves. Y'honatan the son of Gershom, the son of M'nasheh, and his sons were cohanim for the tribe of the people of Dan until the day of the exile from the land.

Thus they erected for themselves Mikhah's idol which he had made, and it remained there as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.

In those days, when there was no king in Isra'el, there was a certain Levi living on the far side of the Efrayim hills who took a woman from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah to be his concubine.

But his concubine was unfaithful to him and left him to go to her father's house at Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah, where she stayed for some time, four months.

Then her husband went after her to persuade her to return; he had his servant with him and a pair of donkeys. She brought him into her father's house; and when the girl's father saw him, he was glad to meet him.

His father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there; so he remained with him three days; they ate, drank and stayed there.

On the fourth day they got up early in the morning, and he prepared to leave. But the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "You'll feel better if you have a bite of food before you leave."

So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. Then the girl's father said to the man, "Please stay one more night, and have a good time."

The man rose to leave, but his father-in-law pressed him, so he stayed there again.

The morning of the fifth day, he got up early to leave; but the girl's father said, "Why don't you have something to eat, and leave this afternoon?" So the two men ate.

When the man got up to leave with his concubine and servant, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Look, it's almost evening. Please stay the night - you see that it's getting late. Stay on, enjoy yourself, and tomorrow get going early on your way home."

But the man wouldn't stay that night; so he got up and left with his concubine and his two saddled donkeys; and they arrived at Y'vus, also known as Yerushalayim.