Judges 18:7-31
7Then the five men departed and came to aLaish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, bquiet and unsuspecting, lacking ▼▼Compare 18:10; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how dthey were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8And when they came to their brothers at eZorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9They said, f“Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. gAnd will you do nothing? hDo not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land. 10As soon as you go, you will come to an iunsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, ja place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.” 11So 600 men of the tribe of Dan, karmed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, 12and went up and encamped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. On this account that place is called lMahaneh-dan ▼
▼ Mahaneh-dan means camp of Dan
to this day; behold, it is west of nKiriath-jearim. 13And they passed on from there to othe hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. 14Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that pin these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.” 15And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and qasked him about his welfare. 16Now the 600 men of the Danites, rarmed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17And sthe five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took tthe carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war. 18And when these went into Micah’s house and took uthe carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19And they said to him, “Keep quiet; vput your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us wa 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?” 20And the priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.
21So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and xthe goods in front of them. 22When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan. 23And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?” 24And he said, y“You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 25And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.” 26Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.
27But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people zquiet and unsuspecting, and aastruck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28And there was no deliverer because it was abfar from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to acBeth-rehob. Then they rebuilt the city and lived in it. 29And they named the city adDan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but aethe name of the city was Laish at the first. 30And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, afson of Moses, ▼
▼Or Manasseh
ahand his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day aiof the captivity of the land. 31So they set up Micah’s carved image that he made, ajas long as the house of God was at Shiloh.
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