Judges 18

1 At that time Israel didn't have a king. The tribe of Dan was looking for territory where they could live, because up until then they hadn't gained possession of the land granted to them among the tribes of Israel.

In those days [there was] no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought for themselves an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day [all their] inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.

2 So the Danites chose from among them five leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to scout out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. When the men came to the hill country of Ephraim, they arrived at Micah's house where they spent the night.

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their borders, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to explore the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

3 While they were there, they recognized the young Levite's accent, so they went to him and asked him, “So who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

When they [were] by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said to him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this [place]? and what hast thou here?

4 “Micah arranged things for me, and he hired me as his priest,” he told them.

And he said to them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

5 “Please ask the Lord for us so we can find out if our journey will be successful,” they asked him.

And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

6 “Go in peace,” the priest replied. “The journey you are taking is being observed by the Lord.”

And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before the LORD [is] your way in which ye go.

7 The five men left and went to the town of Laish. They observed that the people there lived in safety, and followed the customs of the Sidonians. The people were unsuspecting and confident of their security, at home in a productive land. They didn't have a strong ruler, they lived a long way from the Sidonians, and had no other allies to help them.

Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that [were] in it, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and [there was] no magistrate in the land, that might put [them] to shame in [any] thing; and they [were] far from the Zidonians, and had no business with [any] man.

8 The men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did you…?”

And they came to their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said to them, What [say] ye?

9 “Come on, let's go and attack them!” the men interrupted. “We've surveyed the land, and it's excellent! Aren't you going to do something? Don't put off going there and occupying the land!

And they said, Arise, that we may 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 to possess the land.

10 When you get there you'll find the people are unsuspecting and the land is extensive. God has given you a place where there's no shortage of anything!”

When ye go, ye shall come to a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where [there] is no want of any thing that [is] on the earth.

11 So six hundred Danite armed men left Zorah and Eshtaol, ready to attack.

And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.

12 En route they camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That's why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called the Camp of Dan to this very day.

And they went up, and encamped in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day: behold, [it is] behind Kirjath-jearim.

13 Then they left from there and went into the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house.

And they passed thence to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

14 Then the five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told the other tribesmen, “Do you realize that here in these houses there's an ephod, household gods, and a carved idol, an image made with molten silver? So you know what you should do.”

Then answered the five men that went to explore the country of Laish, and said to 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 The five men left the road and went to where the young Levite was living in Micah's home to ask how he was.

And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, [even] to the house of Micah, and saluted him.

16 The six hundred Danite armed men stood at the entrance by the gate.

And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, who [were] of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

17 The five men went inside and took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the image made with molten silver. The priest was standing by the gate with the six hundred armed men.

And the five men that went to explore 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 in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men [that were] appointed with weapons of war.

18 When the priest saw them taking all the religious objects from Micah's home, he asked them, “What are you doing?”

And these went into Micah's house, and brought the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest to them, What do ye?

19 “Be quiet! Don't say anything! Come with us, and you can be our ‘father’ and priest. Wouldn't it be better for you if instead of being a priest for just one man's household that you were the priest of an Israelite tribe and family?”

And they said to 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 a priest to the house of one man, or that thou shouldst be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

20 This seemed like a good idea to the priest and he left with them. Carrying the ephod, the household idols, and the image made with molten silver, he marched with the people all around him.

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 They continued their journey, putting their children, livestock, and possessions ahead of them.

So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the furniture before them.

22 The Danites were already quite a way from Micah's home when men from Micah's village caught up with them,

[And] when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that [were] in the houses near to Micah's house were collected, and overtook the children of Dan.

23 shouting at them. The Danites turned around to face them and asked Micah, “What's the matter with you? Why call out these men to come after us?”

And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?

24 “You stole the gods I made, and my priest too, and then left. What have you left me with? How can you ask me, ‘What's the matter with you?’”

And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye have gone away: and what have I more? and what [is] this [that] ye say to me, What aileth thee?

25 “Don't complain to us!” Danites replied. “Otherwise some hot-tempered people here might attack you and you and your family will lose your lives!”

And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows rush upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

26 The Danites carried on their way. Micah saw that they were too strong for him to fight so he turned around and went back home.

And the children of Dan departed: and when Micah saw that they [were] too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

27 So the Danites took with them the idols that Micah had made, as well as his priest. They attacked Laish with its peaceful and unsuspecting people, killed them with swords, and burned down the town.

And they took [the things] which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came to Laish, to a people [that were] at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

28 No one could save them because they were a long way from Sidon and had no other allies to help them. The town was in the valley belonging to Beth-rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.

And [there was] no deliverer, because it [was] far from Zidon, and they had no business with [any] man; and it was in the valley that [lieth] by Beth-rehob. And they built a city and dwelt in it.

29 They renamed the city Dan after their forefather, the son of Israel. Laish was its former name.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: but the name of the city [was] Laish at the first.

30 The Danites erected the carved idol to worship, and Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons became priests for the tribe of Dan until the time when the people went into captivity from the land.

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

31 They worshiped the carved idol that Micah had made the whole time God's Temple was at Shiloh.

And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.