¹⁷ the five men who had gone to scout out the land arrived, entered Micah’s home^[a] and confiscated the carved image, the ephod, the household idols,^[b] and the cast image. Meanwhile, the priest stood outside by the entrance to the gate with the 600 men armed with military weapons. ¹⁸ After they went into Micah’s home and took possession of the carved image, the ephod, the household idols,^[c] and the cast image, the priest challenged them. “What are you doing?” he asked them.

¹⁹ They told him, “Shut up and keep quiet.^[d] Come with us and be our spiritual^[e] father and priest. It’s better for you, isn’t it, to be a priest to an entire^[f] tribe and family in Israel than to be priest to the home of one man?”