Judges 18

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of Dan was looking for an inheritance of its own to live in, because down to that day no inheritance had fallen to it among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent five men of their clans, men of strength, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to look the land over and search it out; and they said to them, “Go and search out the land.” And they came as far as the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they stayed the night there,

3 in the house of Micah. And they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite, and they turned in there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what have you got here?” 4 And he said to them, “Micah did such and such for me: he hired me, and I became his priest.” 5 And they said to him, “Ask of God, then, and we will know whether the road we are going on will go well.” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The way you are going on is before the Lord.”

7 And the five men went on and came to Laish; and they saw the people in it living in confidence, as the quiet way of the Sidonians is, with no one in the land overturning or shaming a matter, and no heir squeezing out treasure; and they are far from the Sidonians, and have no dealings with anyone. [a] 8 And the five men came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and said to their brothers, “Why are you sitting here?”

9 And they said, “Get up and let us go up against them, because we have seen the land, and look, it is very good. And you are keeping still? Do not hold back from going and going in to take the land as an inheritance. 10 When you go, you will come in on a people living in confidence, and the land is broad; for God has given it into your hand — a place where there is no lack of anything the land holds.”

11 And six hundred men of the clans of Dan set out from there, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, girded with weapons of war. 12 And they went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why that place has been called the Camp of Dan to this day; it lies behind Kiriath-jearim. 13 And from there they passed on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

14 And the five men who had gone to look over the land of Laish spoke up and said to their brothers, “Do you know that in this house there is an ephod, and household gods, and a carved image and a cast image? Now think what you are going to do.” [b] 15 And they turned in there and went into the house of the young man, the Levite — the house of Micah — and asked him how he was. 16 And the six hundred men, girded with their weapons of war, stood at the door of the gate; they were of the children of Dan.

17 And the five men who had gone to look the land over went up, 18 and they went in there, into the house of Micah, while the priest stood by; and they took the carved image and the ephod and the household gods and the cast image. And the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Be quiet. 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 priest to one man's household, or to be priest to a tribe and a house belonging to a clan in Israel?” 20 And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and the cast image, and went along in the middle of the people.

21 So they turned and went off, and they put their children and their property and their baggage in front of them. 22 They had got some distance from Micah's house when Micah and the men in the houses near Micah's house shouted out and overtook the children of Dan. 23 And the children of Dan turned their faces around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you have shouted out?”

24 And Micah said, “You have taken the carved image I made, and the priest, and you have gone off. What have I left? And what is this you say to me, ‘Why are you crying out?’” 25 And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, or men bitter in soul among us will come at you, and they will take your life and the life of your household.” [c] 26 And the children of Dan went their way; and Micah saw that they were stronger than he was, and he turned back to his house.

27 And the children of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest he had, and they came against Laish, against a people quiet and trusting, living in confidence; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no one to rescue them, because the city is far from the Sidonians, and they have no dealings with anyone; and it lies in the valley of the house of Rehob. And they built the city and settled in it, 29 and they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; and the name of the city before that was Ulamais. [d]

30 And the children of Dan set up the carved image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh, he and his sons, were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day the land went into exile. [e] 31 And they set up for themselves the carved image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh. [f]