Judges 18

Dan Seeks an Inheritance

1In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance in which to live, for until that day an inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2The children of Dan sent five men from all their clan, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to Micah’s house, and lodged there. 3When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” 4He said to them, “Thus and so Micah has done for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.” 5They said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we are going will succeed.” 6The priest said to them, “Go in peace. Before the LORD is the journey on which you are going.”

The Spies Find Laish

7The five men departed and came to Laish. They saw the people who were in it living securely, according to the custom of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was no one in the land possessing authority who might humiliate them in anything. They were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8The spies came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol. Their brothers said to them, “What do you say?” 9They said, “Rise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and look, it is very good. Will you remain still? Do not be slow to go, to enter and possess the land. 10When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land is broad. For God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

Dan Takes Micah’s Cultic Objects

11Six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12They went up and camped at Kiriath-Jearim in Judah. Therefore that place is called Mahaneh-Dan to this day; look, it is west of Kiriath-Jearim. 13From there they passed on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house. 14Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish spoke to their brothers and said, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a cast image? Now therefore consider what you should do.” 15They turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and asked him about his well-being. 16The six hundred men of the children of Dan, armed with their weapons of war, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17The five men who had gone to spy out the land went up and entered there. They took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the cast image, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 18When these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the cast image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19They said to him, “Be quiet. Put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” 20The priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod, the household gods, and the carved image and went among the people.

Micah Pursues Dan

21They turned and departed, putting the little children, livestock, and possessions in front of them. 22When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called together and overtook the children of Dan. 23They cried out to the children of Dan, and they turned their faces and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you have gathered these men?” 24He said, “You have taken my gods that I made, and the priest, and gone away. What do I have left? How then can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 25The children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest bitter men fall upon you and you lose your life and the lives of your household.” 26Then the children of Dan went their way. When Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he turned and went back to his house.

Dan Captures Laish

27They took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting. They struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28There was no one to deliver them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-Rehob. Then the Danites rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor who was born to Israel. But the name of the city was formerly Laish. 30The children of Dan set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image that he had made, all the days that the house of God was at Shiloh.