Judges 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 their inheritance had not fallen unto 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 unto them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto 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 thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah dealt with me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest.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.6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way wherein ye 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 unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?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 ye still? be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.10 When 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.

11 And 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.12 And 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.13 And they passed thence unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.

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.15 And 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.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 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.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 unto them, What do ye?19 And 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?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 unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?24 And 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?25 And 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.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.

27 And 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.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 lieth 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 unto Israel: howbeit 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.

Judges 18

Micah and the Tribe of Dan

1 There was no king in Israel at that time. In those days the tribe of Dan was looking for territory to claim and occupy because they had not yet received any land of their own among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the people of Dan chose five qualifiedt men out of all the families in the tribe and sent them from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol with instructions to explore the land. When they arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they stayed at Micah's house.

3 While they were there, they recognized the accent of the young Levite, so they went up to him and asked, “What are you doing here? Who brought you here?”

4 He answered, “I have an arrangement with Micah, who pays me to serve as his priest.”

5 They said to him, “Please ask God if we are going to be successful on our journey.”

6 The priest answered, “You have nothing to worry about. The Lord is taking care of you on this journey.”
7 So the five men left and went to the town of Laish. They saw how safely the people there were living, like the Sidonians. They were a peaceful, quiet people, with no disputes with anyone; they had all they needed.t They lived far away from the Sidonians and had no dealings with any other people. 8 When the five men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their countrymen asked them what they had found out. 9 “Come on,” they replied. “Let's attack Laish. We saw the land, and it's very good. Don't stay here doing nothing; hurry! Go on in and take it over!

10 When you get there, you will find that the people don't suspect a thing. It is a big country; it has everything a person could want, and God has given it to you.”
11 So 600 men from the tribe of Dan left Zorah and Eshtaol, ready for battle. 12 They went up and made camp west of Kiriath Jearim in Judah. That is why the place is still called Camp of Dan.

13 They went on from there and came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.
14 Then the five men who had gone to explore the country round Laish said to their companions, “Did you know that here in one of these houses there is a wooden idol covered with silver? There are also other idols and an ephod. What do you think we should do?” 15 So they went into Micah's house, where the young Levite lived, and asked the Levite how he was getting on. 16 Meanwhile the 600 soldiers from Dan, ready for battle, were standing at the gate.

17 The five spies went straight on into the house and took the wooden idol covered with silver, the other idols, and the ephod, while the priest stayed at the gate with the 600 armed men.

18 When the men went into Micah's house and took the sacred objects, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”
19 They said, “Keep quiet. Don't say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Wouldn't you rather be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for the family of one man?”

20 This made the priest very happy, so he took the sacred objects and went along with them.
21 They turned round and started off, with their children, their livestock, and their belongings going ahead. 22 They had travelled a good distance from the house when Micah called his neighbours out for battle. They caught up with the men from Dan

23 and shouted at them. The men from Dan turned round and asked Micah, “What's the matter? Why all this mob?”

24 Micah answered, “What do you mean, ‘What's the matter?’ You take my priest and the gods that I made, and walk off! What have I got left?”
25 The men from Dan said, “You had better not say anything else unless you want these men to get angry and attack you. Then you and your whole family would die.”

26 Then they went on. Micah saw that they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home.
27-28 After the men from Dan had taken the priest and the things that Micah had made, they went and attacked Laish, that town of peaceful, quiet people which was in the same valley as Bethrehob. They killed the inhabitants and burnt the town. There was no one to save them, because Laish was a long way from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any other people. The men from Dan rebuilt the town and settled down there. 29 They changed its name from Laish to Dan, after their ancestor Dan, the son of Jacob. 30 The men from Dan set up the idol to be worshipped, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, served as a priest for the tribe of Dan, and his descendants served as their priests until the people were taken away into exile. 31 Micah's idol remained there all the time that the Tent where God was worshipped remained at Shiloh.