Judges 18

¹In 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 their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

²And 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 unto them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodged there.

³When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

⁴And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah dealt with me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest.

⁵And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

⁶And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way wherein ye go.

⁷Then 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.

⁸And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

⁹And they said, Arise, and let us 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 in to possess the land.

¹⁰When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large; for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.

¹¹And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war.

¹²And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan, unto this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim.

¹³And they passed thence unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.

¹⁴Then 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.

¹⁵And they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.

¹⁶And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷And 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 by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.

¹⁸And when these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said unto them, What do ye?

¹⁹And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?

²⁰And 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.

²¹So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them.

²²When 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.

²³And 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?

²⁴And he said, ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee?

²⁵And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

²⁶And 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.

²⁷And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.

²⁸And 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 lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built the city, and dwelt therein.

²⁹And 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.

³⁰And 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.

³¹So they set them up Micah’s graven image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 18

¹In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

²So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

³And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

⁴“Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.”

⁵Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to determine whether we will have a successful journey.”

⁶And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.”

⁷So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, tranquil and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.

⁸When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”

⁹They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!

¹⁰When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has delivered it into your hand. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”

¹¹So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.

¹³And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

¹⁴Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”

¹⁵So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him.

¹⁶The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war.

¹⁷And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.

¹⁸When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹“Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”

²⁰So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people.

²¹Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed.

²²After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites.

²³When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”

²⁴He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”

²⁵The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

²⁶So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.

²⁷After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a tranquil and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.

²⁸There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.

²⁹They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.

³⁰The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.