^18:14The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish³⁵ said to their kinsmen,³⁶ “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.” ^18:15They stopped³⁷ there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah),³⁸ and asked him how he was doing.³⁹^18:16Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate.⁴⁰^18:17The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole⁴¹ the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men.⁴²^18:18When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole⁴³ the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” ^18:19They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser⁴⁴ and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”⁴⁵^18:20The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.⁴⁶

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Footnotes

35 Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the lacks the phrase “of Laish.”
36 Heb “brothers.”
37 Heb “turned aside.”
38 Heb “Micah’s house.”
39 Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”
40 Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war … from the sons of Dan.”
41 Heb “went up, went in there, took.”
42 Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”
43 Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”
44 See the note on the word “adviser” in .
45 Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”
46 Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”