92 BATTLES OF THE BIBLE.

“Hold thy peace,” they said to him, “ lay thine hand
upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father
and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the
house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe,
and a family in Israel ?”

Jonathan had no fault to Micah; he had taken him
in when he was houseless, and had treated him with
unvarying kindness ; but he who had been false to his
God could not be expected to be true to any earthly
friend ; he was such a low minded man, that his own
interest was the highest point at which he aimed. He
accompanied the Danites with a joyful heart. As soon
as Micah discovered the theft, he gathered his neighbours .
together, and set out after the robbers. The children of
Dan, having cattle with them, could not travel very fast,
so they were overtaken by Micah and his company. The
robbed Ephraimite, confident in the justice of his cause,
called out to them. The Danites turned round and
asked what was the matter. Micah accused them of
having taken away his most valuable treasures, his gods
and his priest. The children of Dan made no attempt to
excuse what they had done. They did not offer to make
up to the man for his loss; they contented themselves
with telling him that if he were not quiet at once, they
would kill him and his family. This was enough.
Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,
returned to his house.

Marianne. I am sorry for poor Micah, he was very ‘ill
used.