JUDGES 16:26 – 17:13
16:26 And Samson said to the youth who held him by his hand, Let me feel the pillars upon which the house rests, that I may rest against them.
16:27 Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who were looking on while Samson performed.
16:28 And Samson called on Jehovah and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray; and strengthen me, I pray, this one time only, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines at once for my two eyes.
16:29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested and leaned against them, one with his right hand and the other with his left.
16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed in his death were more than those that he killed in his life.
16:31 Then his brothers and all his father’s house went down and bore him away, and they brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoah his father. Now he had judged Israel twenty years.
17:1 Now there was a man from the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
17:2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and spoke it in my hearing — look, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed of Jehovah be my son!
17:3 And he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I do consecrate the silver to Jehovah from my hand to my son to make a sculptured idol and a molten image. Now therefore I will return it to you.
17:4 And when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the founder, who made them into a sculptured idol and a molten image. And it was in the house of Micah.
17:5 And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons to become his priest.
17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
17:7 And there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was a sojourner there.
17:8 And the man left the city Bethlehem in Judah to dwell wherever he could find a place. And he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he made his way.
17:9 And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am traveling in order to dwell wherever I can find a place.
17:10 And Micah said to him, Stay with me, and be a father and a priest to me; and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and an array of clothing and your food. So the Levite went with him.
17:11 And the Levite was content to stay with the man; and the young man was to him like one of his sons.
17:12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest and was in the house of Micah.
17:13 Then Micah said, Now I know that Jehovah will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.