When the men ¹  of Joseph attacked ²  Bethel, ³  the Lord was with them.

They stopped ¹  there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), ²  and asked him how he was doing. ³ 

However, she ¹  got angry at him ²  and went home ³  to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months,

From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house.

The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath. ¹  They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The Canaanites ²  living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor for them.

When the men of Joseph spied out Bethel (it used to be called Luz),

When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem ¹  heard the news, they went to the stronghold ²  of the temple of El-Berith. ³ 

The Levite ¹  said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem ²  in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. ³  But no one has invited me into their home.

The Amorites managed ¹  to remain in Har Heres, ²  Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Whenever the tribe of Joseph was strong militarily, ³  the Amorites were forced to do hard labor.

She would sit ¹  under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel ²  in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. ³ 

They did not treat ¹  the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.

Now Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives. ¹  He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family, ² 

All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar ¹  in Shechem.

They went out to the field, harvested their grapes, ¹  squeezed out the juice, ²  and celebrated. They came to the temple ³  of their god and ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech.

Now this man Micah owned a shrine. ¹  He made an ephod ²  and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest. ³ 

This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house. ¹ 

When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ¹  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors ¹  gathered together and caught up with the Danites.

They worshiped ¹  Micah’s carved image ²  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ³  was in Shiloh.

The woman arrived back at daybreak and was sprawled out on the doorstep of the house where her master ¹  was staying until it became light. ²