Judges 18

¹ In those days there was no king in Israel. Now in those days the tribe of Dan was in search of a territory to live in, because up till then no territory had fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.

² From their clan the Danites sent five brave men from Zorah and Eshtaol to reconnoitre the country and explore it. They said to them, ‘Go and explore the country’. The five men came to the highlands of Ephraim and to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.

³ When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite, and turning that way they said to him, ‘Who brought you here? What are you doing here? What is keeping you here?’

⁴ He answered, ‘Micah has done such and such for me. He pays me a wage and I act as his priest.’

⁵ They replied, ‘Then consult God and find out for us whether the journey we are making will be successful’.

⁶ The priest replied, ‘Go in peace; the journey you are making is under the eye of Yahweh’.

⁷ So the five men set out, and came to Laish. They saw that the people there lived in security like the Sidonians, peaceful and trusting, that nothing lacked there of all that the earth yields, and that they were far from the Sidonians and had no relations with the Aramaeans.

⁸ Then they went back to their kinsfolk at Zorah and Eshtaol, and when these asked them, ‘What can you tell us?’

⁹ they answered, ‘We went and passed through the country as far as Laish. We saw that the people there live in security like the Sidonians. They are far from Sidon and have no relations with Aram. Up, and let us march against them, for we have seen the country and it is very good. But you-why stand there speechless? Set out for Laish without delay and take possession of the country.

¹⁰ When you reach it, you will find a defenceless people. The country is wide; God has put in your power a place where there is nothing lacking of all that man can want on earth.’

¹¹ So men of the tribe of Dan set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, six hundred of them, armed for war.

¹² They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah; and for this reason the place is still called the Camp of Dan today. It lies west of Kiriath-jearim.

¹³ From there they entered the highlands of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

¹⁴ Then the five men who had been to explore the country spoke to their brothers and said, ‘Do you know that there is an ephod in these houses, and teraphim and a carved image (and an idol in cast metal)? So now think what you have to do.’

¹⁵ They turned aside and went to the young Levite’s dwelling in Micah’s house, and greeted him.

¹⁶ While the six hundred men of the Danites, armed for war, stood at the threshold of the gate,

¹⁷ the five who had set out to explore the country went on into the house and took the carved image and ephod and teraphim (and the idol of cast metal), while the priest remained at the threshold of the gate with the six hundred men armed for war.

¹⁸ These men, having entered Micah’s house, took the carved image, the ephod and the teraphim (and the idol of cast metal). But the priest said, ‘What are you doing?’

¹⁹ They answered, ‘Hush! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us. You shall be a father and a priest for us. Is it better for you to be priest for one man’s household, or to be priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?’

²⁰ The priest was overjoyed; he took the ephod and teraphim and the carved image and set off in the middle of the band of men.

²¹ They left by the way they came, putting the women, children, cattle and valuables in front of them.

²² They had gone some way from Micah’s home when the neighbours with houses next to his gave the alarm and set off in pursuit of the Danites.

²³ And as they shouted after them, the Danites turned round and asked Micah, ‘What is all this shouting about?’

²⁴ He answered, ‘You have taken away the god I made for myself; you have taken away the priest as well. You go on your way, and what is left for me? How can you ask me, “What is this about?”‘

²⁵ The Danites answered, ‘Let us hear no more from you, or men may lose their tempers and fall on you. You may bring about your own destruction and that of your household.’

²⁶ So the Danites went on their way; and since Micah saw they were the stronger, he turned and went home.

²⁷ So taking with them the god that Micah had made and the priest who had served him, the Danites marched against Laish, against a peaceful and trusting people. They slaughtered all the inhabitants and set the town on fire.

²⁸ There was no one to help the town because it was a long way from Sidon and had no relations with the Aramaeans. It lay in the valley running towards Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the town and settled in it,

²⁹ and called it Dan after Dan their father who had been born to Israel, although the town was originally called Laish. The Danites erected the carved image for their own use.

³⁰ Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons after him were priests for the tribe of Dan till the day when the inhabitants of the country were carried away into exile.

³¹ The carved image that Micah had made they enshrined for their own use, and there it stayed as long as the house of God remained at Shiloh.[*a]