Judges 18 In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking to take possession of a lot of inheritance for themselves; for even till that day they had not got possession of the inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel.

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking to take possession of a lot of inheritance for themselves; for even till that day they had not got possession of the inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel. ² So the children of Dan sent from their communities five men of valour, from Saraa, and from Esthaol, to view the land and examine it thoroughly, and said to them, Go and examine the land thoroughly. And they went to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah. ³ And when they lodged there, at the house of Micah, they perceived the voice of the young Levite, and turned aside there and said to him, Who brought thee here? and what art thou doing at this place? what business hast thou here? ⁴ And he said to them, Thus and thus hath Micah done to me, and hired me, and I am become his priest. ⁵ Then they said to him, Inquire, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether the journey in which we are engaged will be prosperous. ⁶ And the priest said to them, Go in peace. This journey of yours which you are going is before the Lord. ⁷ So the five men proceeded on and came to Laisa, and saw the people there dwelling securely. Their manner of living was tranquil like that of the Sidonians. There was none to reprove; none in the land to put them to shame for any thing. Possessing wealth they were spending it luxuriously; and they were at a great distance from the Sidonians, and had no intercourse with any man. ⁸ So the five men came to their brethren at Saraa, and Esthaol, and said to them, Why sit ye here? ⁹ Moreover they said, Arise and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold it is very good, but still you continue quiet. You should not delay any longer to go and take possession of that land. ¹⁰ And when you go, you will come upon a people living in security, though it is a large country; for God hath delivered it into your hands. It is a place where there is no want of any thing on earth. ¹¹ Then there went up thence, of the communities of Dan, from Saraa and Esthaol, six hundred men well equipt with all necessaries of war. ¹² And in going up they encamped at Kariathiarim in Juda, for which cause that place is called The Camp of Dan to this day. Behold it is behind Kariathiarim. ¹³ And from that place they passed through mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. ¹⁴ And the five men who had gone to spy the land of Laisa, addressing their brethren, said, Yon know that at this house there is an ephod,and a theraphin, and a graven and a molten image; now consider therefore what you are to do. ¹⁵ Upon this they turned aside, and went to the house of the young Levite, to the house of Micah, and saluted him. ¹⁶ While the six hundred Danites, who were equipt with implements of war, stood at the gate of the city, ¹⁷ the five men, who had gone to spy the land, went up and entered the house of Micah, ¹⁸ while the priest was standing there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the theraphin, and the molten image. And when the priest said to them, What are you doing? ¹⁹ they said to him, Hold thy peace, Put thy hand on thy mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be the priest of the house of one man, than to be the priest of a tribe, and of the house of a community of Israel? ²⁰ And the priest's heart was delighted. So he took the ephod, and the theraphin, and the graven, and the molten image, and went into the midst of1 the people. ²¹ And they turned and went away, and sent the children, and the cattle, and the heavy baggage before them. ²² And when they were at a considerable distance from the house of Micah, behold Micah and the men, the families adjacent to Micah's house, uttered the shout of war and overtook the Danites. ²³ Upon which the sons of Dan turned about and said to Micah, What is the matter with thee that thou hast raised the shout of war? ²⁴ And Micah said, Because you have taken my graven image, which I made, and the priest; and have gone away. What more could have happened to me? Why then do you say to me, Why dost thou shout? ²⁵ And the sons of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us. Should warm spirited men come to an engagement with us they will endanger thy life, and the life of thy household. ²⁶ Then the sons of Dan proceeded on in their march. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he returned to his house. ²⁷ So the sons of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who was with him, and went to Laisa, to a people living at ease, and in a state of security, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. ²⁸ There was none to deliver them, for they were far from the Sidonians, and had no intercourse with any man. It is situate in the valley of the house of Raab. And they rebuilt the city, and dwelt therein, ²⁹ and called the name of the city Dan after the name of their father Dan who was born to Israel. Now the name of that city formerly was Oulamais. ³⁰ And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image, and Jonathan, a Gersonite, son of Manasses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites, even to the day of the capture of the Ark. ³¹ They indeed set up for themselves the graven image which Micah made, all the time the house of God was at Selom.