¹⁷ Then ^(A)the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took ^(B)the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸ When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹ And they said to him, “Be quiet, ^(C)put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; ^(D)be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”