| 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. |
