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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.
02 And the children of Dan sent of their family
five men from their coasts, men of valour, 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.
03 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?
04 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth
Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his
priest.
05 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.
06 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace:
before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.
07 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.
08 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and
Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What
say ye?
09 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.
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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.
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