Judges 18

The Danites Adopt Micah’s Idolatry

18In ^athose days there was no king in Israel. And in those days ^bthe tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. ²So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from ^cZorah and Eshtaol, ^dto spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the ^ehouse of Micah, and lodged there. ³While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?”

⁴He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has ^fhired me, and I have become his priest.”

⁵So they said to him, “Please ^ginquire ^hof God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”

⁶And the priest said to them, ⁱ“Go in peace. ¹The presence of the Lord be with you on your way.”

⁷So the five men departed and went to ^jLaish. They saw the people who were there, ^khow they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the ^lSidonians, and they had no ties ²with anyone.

⁸Then the spies came back to their brethren at ^mZorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”

⁹So they said, ⁿ“Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you ^odo nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. ¹⁰When you go, you will come to a ^psecure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, ^qa place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

¹¹And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. ¹²Then they went up and encamped in ^rKirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place ^sMahaneh Dan ³to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) ¹³And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to ^tthe house of Micah.

^14uThen the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that ^vthere are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” ¹⁵So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him. ¹⁶The ^wsix hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷Then ^xthe five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took ^ythe carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹And they said to him, “Be quiet, ^zput your hand over your mouth, and come with us; ^abe a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” ²⁰So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people.

²¹Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them. ²²When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. ²³And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, ^b“What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?”

²⁴So he said, “You have ^ctaken away my ⁴gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ”

²⁵And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest ⁵angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!” ²⁶Then the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

Danites Settle in Laish

²⁷So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; ^dand they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. ²⁸There was no deliverer, because it was ^efar from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs ^fto Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there. ²⁹And ^gthey called the name of the city ^hDan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

³⁰Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of ⁶Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan ⁱuntil the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, ^jall the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.