Judg 18
1
In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites
sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day [their] inheritance had not
fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
2
And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men
of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and
they said to them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim,
to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
3
When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite;
and they turned aside there, and said to him, Who brought you here? and what do you
in this place? and what have you here?
4
And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and
I am become his priest.
5
And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our
way which we go shall be prosperous.
6
And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before YHWH is your way wherein you go.
7
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein,
how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for
there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put [them] to shame in
anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man.
8
And they came to their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said to them,
What [say] you?
9
And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and,
behold, it is very good: and are you still? be not slothful to go and to enter in
to possess the land.
10
When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and the land is large; for God has
given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the
earth.
11
And there set forth from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out
of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
12
And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called
that place Mahaneh-dan, to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim.
13
And they passed thence to the hill-country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to
their brethren, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim,
and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do.
15
And they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even
to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
16
And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of
Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took
the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest
stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
18
And when these went into Micah`s house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod, and
the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, What do you?
19
And they said to him, Hold your peace, lay your hand upon your mouth, and go with
us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for you to be priest to the house
of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?
20
And the priest`s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the
graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
21
So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods
before them.
22
When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses
near to Micah`s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
23
And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah,
What ails you, that you come with such a company?
24
And he said, you have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone
away, and what have I more? and how then say you to me, What ails you?
25
And the children of Dan said to him, Let not your voice be heard among us, lest angry
fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.
26
And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong
for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27
And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish,
to a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword; and they
burnt the city with fire.
28
And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings
with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth-rehob. And they built the
city, and dwelt therein.
29
And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who
was born to Israel: nevertheless the name of the city was Laish at the first.
30
And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the
son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the
Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
31
So they set them up Micah`s graven image which he made, all the time that the house
of God was in Shiloh.