Judges:18

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* In those days there was no king in Israel : and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought for itself an inheritance to dwell in ; for to that day [its ] inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel . * And the sons 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 . And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim , to the house of Micah , and lodged there . * When they were by the house of Micah , they knew the voice of the young man the Levite ; and they turned aside there , and said to him , Who brought you here ? And what are you doing in this place ? And what do you have here ? * And he said to them , Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me , and he has hired me , and I have become his priest . * And they said to him , Ask counsel , we pray you , of God , that we may know whether our way which we go will be prosperous . * And the priest said to them , Go in peace : before Yahweh is your (note :){+}(:note ) way in which you {+} go . * Then the five men departed , and came to Laish , and saw the people who were in it , how they dwelt in security , after the manner of the Sidonians , quiet and secure ; for there was no one possessing authority that might put [them ] to shame in anything in the land , and they were far from the Sidonians , and had no dealings with man . * And they came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol : and their brothers said to them , What [say ] you (note :){+}(:note )? * And they said , Arise , and let us go up against them ; for we have seen the land , and , look , it is very good : and are you (note :){+}(:note ) still ? Don 't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land . * When you (note :){+}(:note ) go , you {+} will come to a people secure , and the land is large ; for God has given it into your {+} hand , a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth . * And six hundred men girded with weapons of war set forth from there of the family of the Danites , out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol . * And they went up , and encamped in Kiriath-jearim , in Judah : therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan , to this day ; look , it is behind Kiriath-jearim . * And they passed from there to the hill-country of Ephraim , and came to the house of Micah . * Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered , and said to their brothers , Do you (note :){+}(:note ) know that there is in these houses an ephod , and talismans , and a graven image , and a molten image ? Now therefore consider what you {+} have to do . * And they turned aside there , and came to the house of the young man the Levite , even to the house of Micah , and asked him of his welfare . * And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war , who were of the sons of Dan , stood by the entrance of the gate . * And the five men who went to spy out the land went up , and came in there , and took the graven image , and the ephod , and the talismans , and the molten image : and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girded with weapons of war . * And when these went into Micah 's house , and fetched the graven image , the ephod , and the talismans , and the molten image , the priest said to them , What are you (note :){+}(:note ) doing ? * And they said to him , Hold your peace , lay your hand on your mouth , and go 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 a family in Israel ? * And the priest 's heart was glad , and he took the ephod , and the talismans , and the graven image , and went in the midst of the people . * So they turned and departed , and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them . * When they were a good way from the house of Micah , the men who were in the houses near to Micah 's house had gathered together , and stuck to the sons of Daniel . * And they cried to the sons of Daniel . And they turned their faces , and said to Micah , What ails you , that you come with such a company ? * And he said , you (note :){+}(:note ) have taken away my gods which I made , and the priest , and have gone away , and what more do I have ? And how then do you {+} say to me , What ails you ? * And the sons of Dan said to him , Don 't let your voice be heard among us , or else angry fellows will fall on you (note :){+}(:note ), and you will lose your life , with the lives of your household . * And the sons of Dan went their way : and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him , he turned and went back to his house . * And they took that which Micah had made , and the priest whom he had , and came to Laish , to a people quiet and secure , and struck them with the edge of the sword ; and they burnt the city with fire . * And there was no deliverer , because it was far from Sidon , and they had no dealings with man ; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth-rehob . And they built the city , and dwelt in it . * And they called the name of the city Dan , after the name of Dan their father , who was born to Israel : nevertheless the name of the city was Laish at the first . * And the sons 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 . * So they set themselves up Micah 's graven image which he made , all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh .

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