1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for themselves some territory to settle in; for to that day their inheritance had not been alloted to them among the tribes of Israel.
2 The descendants of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land. They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
3 When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite man; and they turned aside there and said to him, Who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place? and what is your business here?
4 He said to them, Micah did such and such for me and hired me, and I became his priest.
5 They said to him, Please inquire of God that we may know whether our journey that we are going on will be successful.
6 The priest said to them, Go in peace: the Lord is going before you on the journey you want to go on.
7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived according to the customs of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; and lacking nothing in the land, and possessing restraint. And they were far from the Sidonians and had no word with anyone.
8 They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their relatives said to them, What do you report?
9 They said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good. Will you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go and to enter in to possess the land.
10 When you go, you will come an unsuspecting people, and the land is spread out on all sides; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.
11 There set forth from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
12 They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah: therefore they called that place Camp of Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim.
13 From there they crossed over to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14 Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and idol of cast metal? So then, consider what you must do.
15 They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man, to the house of Micah, and they greeted him.
16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the descendants of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17 The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girded with weapons of war.
18 When these went into Micah's house, and took the carved idol, ephod, teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, What are you doing?
19 They said to him, Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be for 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 a family in Israel?
20 The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, and went along with the people.
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the valuable property before them.
22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the descendants of Dan.
23 They called to the descendants of Dan, who turned around to face them, and said to Micah, What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?
24 He said, you have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have left? How then do you say to me, What is the matter with you?
25 The children of Dan said to him, "You should not let your voice be heard among us, so that ill-tempered men will not attack you, and take your life and the lives of your household."
26 The children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27 They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and killed them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.
28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived in it.
29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: but the former name of the city was Laish.
30 The descendants of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 So they set them up Micah's molten image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.