kjv Judges:18 SEEK
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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 .
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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 .
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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 ?
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And he said unto them ,
Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me ,
and hath hired me ,
and I am his priest .
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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 .
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And the priest said unto them ,
Go in peace :
before the LORD is your way wherein ye go .
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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 .
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And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol :
and their brethren said unto them ,
What say ye ?
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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And they went up ,
and pitched in Kirjathjearim ,
in Judah :
wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day :
behold ,
it is behind Kirjathjearim .
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And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim ,
and came unto the house of Micah .
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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 .
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And they turned thitherward ,
and came to the house of the young man the Levite ,
even unto the house of Micah ,
and saluted him .
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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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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 .
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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 ?
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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 ?
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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 .
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So they turned and departed ,
and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them .
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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 .
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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 ?
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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 ?
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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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 .
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And they set them up Micah '
s graven image ,
which he made ,
all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh .