Jud 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 unto that day
all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
Jud 18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their
coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to
search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to
mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
Jud 18:3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young
man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee
hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
Jud 18:4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath
hired me, and I am his priest.
Jud 18:5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may
know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
Jud 18:6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way
wherein ye go.
Jud 18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that
were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet
and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to
shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business
with any man.
Jud 18:8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their
brethren said unto them, What say ye?
Jud 18:9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen
the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go,
and to enter to possess the land.
Jud 18:10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land:
for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any
thing that is in the earth.
Jud 18:11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah
and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
Jud 18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore
they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind
Kirjathjearim.
Jud 18:13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of
Micah.
Jud 18:14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish,
and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod,
and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider
what ye have to do.
Jud 18:15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man
the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
Jud 18:16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which
were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
Jud 18:17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in
thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the
molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six
hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
Jud 18:18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the
ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them,
What do ye?
Jud 18:19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, 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?
Jud 18:20 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.
Jud 18:21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle
and the carriage before them.
Jud 18:22 And 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.
Jud 18:23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces,
and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
Jud 18:24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest,
and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto
me, What aileth thee?
Jud 18:25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard
among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the
lives of thy household.
Jud 18:26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they
were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
Jud 18:27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he
had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they
smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
Jud 18:28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they
had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob.
And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
Jud 18:29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their
father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the
first.
Jud 18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son
of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of
Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
Jud 18:31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time
that the house of God was in Shiloh.