The Danites Settle in Laish

1In 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 to that day all their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, 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: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. 3When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said to him, Who brought you here? and what make you in this place? and what have you here? 4And he said to them, Thus and thus deals Micah with me, and has hired me, and I am his priest. 5And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray you, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. 6And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein you go.

7Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelled 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. 8And they came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, What say you? 9And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are you still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10When you go, you shall come to a people secure, and to a large land: for God has given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

11And there went from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. 12And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: why they called that place Mahanehdan to this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim. 13And they passed there to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

Danites Take Micah's Idols

14Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what you have to do. 15And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and saluted him. 16And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate. 17And 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. 18And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest to them, What do you? 19And 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 a priest to the house of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel? 20And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the middle of the people.

21So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. 22And 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. 23And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What ails you, that you come with such a company? 24And he said, You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that you say to me, What ails you? 25And the children of Dan said to him, Let not your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household. 26And 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.

27And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came to Laish, to a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. 28And 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 lies by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelled therein. 29And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: however, the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30And 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. 31And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.