|
Chapter 18 |
| 1 | In those days
there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought
them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had
not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. |
| 2 | And the
children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor,
from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they
said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to
the house of Micah, they lodged there. |
| 3 | 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 unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in
this place? and what hast thou here? |
| 4 | And he said unto them, Thus and
thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. |
| 5 |
And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know
whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. |
| 6 | And the priest
said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.
|
| 7 | Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that
were therein, 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 | And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and
Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? |
| 9 | 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 ye go, ye shall come unto 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 in the earth. |
| 11 | 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 | And they
went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that
place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim. |
| 13 |
And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of
Micah. |
| 14
| Then answered the five men that went to spy out the
country of Laish, and said unto 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 | And they turned
thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the
house of Micah, and saluted him. |
| 16 | And the six hundred men
appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood
by the entering of the gate. |
|
17 | And the five men that went to spy out
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
entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons
of war. |
| 18
| And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved
image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest
unto them, What do ye? |
| 19 | And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay
thine 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 unto the house of one man, or that thou be
a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? |
| 20 | 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 | So they
turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage
before them. |
|
22 | 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 gathered
together, and overtook the children of Dan. |
|
23 | And they cried unto the
children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth
thee, that thou comest with such a company? |
|
24 | And he said, Ye have
taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what
have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee? |
| 25 |
And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us,
lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy
household. |
| 26
| And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah
saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his
house. |
| 27
| And they took the things which Micah had made, and the
priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto 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 |
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
Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. |
| 29 | And they
called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was
born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
|
| 30 | 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 | And they set
them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God
was in Shiloh. |
