The Danites Settle in Laish

1In those days no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites seeking for himself an inheritance to dwell in; for he fell not into an inheritance for himself in the midst of the tribes of Israel till that day. 2And the sons of Dan will send from their families five men from their extremities, men sons of power, from Zorah and Eshtaol, to search the land and to examine it; and they will say to them, Go and examine the land: and they will come to mount Ephraim, even to the house of Micah, and they will lodge there. 3And they with the house of Micah, and they knew the voice of the youth, the Levite: and they will turn aside there and say to him, Who brought thee hither? and what didst thou in here? and what to thee here? 4And he will say to them, according to this, and according to this, Micah did to me, and he will hire me, and I to him for priest. 5And they will say to him, Ask now of God, and we shall know whether our way shall prosper which we go upon it. 6And the priest will say to them, Go for peace: before Jehovah, your way which ye shall go in it.

7And the five men will go and come to Laish, and they will see the people which in the midst of her, dwelling in confidence according to the judgment of the Sidonians, quiet and confiding; and none shaming the word in the land, a possessor heaping up, and they far off from the Sidonians, and the word was not to them with man. 8And they will come to their brethren of Zorah and Eshtaol; and their brethren will say to them, What ye? 9And they will say, Arise, and we will go up upon them: for we saw the land, and behold, exceedingly good: and ye being still, ye shall not neglect to go, to come to inherit the land. 10In your going, ye shall come to a people confiding, and to a land of many hands: for God gave it into your hand, a place where no want there of any word which is in the earth.

11And they will remove from thence from the families of the Danites, and from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war. 12And they will go up and encamp in the City of Forests, in Judah: for this they called that place the camp of Dan, even to this day: behold, it behind the City of Forests. 13And they will pass from thence to mount Ephraim, and they will come even to the house of Micah.

The Danites Take Micah’s Idols

14And the five men going to search the land of Laish will answer and say to their brethren, Knew ye that there is in these houses an ephod, and a teraphim, and a carved thing, and a molten? and now know ye what ye will do. 15And they will turn aside there and come to the house of the youth the Levite, of the house of Micah, and they will ask him for peace. 16And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, stood at the door, which were of the sons of Dan. 17And the five men having gone to search the land will go up; they will come in there; they took the carved thing and the ephod, and the teraphim and the molten thing: and the priest stood at the door of the gate, and the six hundred men girded with weapons of war. 18And these came in to Micah's house, and they will take the carved thing, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten thing; and the priest will say to them, What are ye doing? 19And they will say to him, Be silent; put thy hand upon thy mouth and go with us, and be to us for father and for priest: is it good for thee to be priest to the house of one man, or for thee to be priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel? 20And the priest's heart will be joyous, and he will take the ephod, and the teraphim, and the carved thing, and will go in the midst of the people.

21And they will turn and go and put the little ones and the cattle and the wealth before them. 22They were far off from the house of Micah, and the men that were in the houses which were with the house of Micah, were called together, and they will overtake the sons of Dan. 23And they will call to the sons of Dan, and they will turn their faces and say to Micah, What to thee that thou criedst out? 24And he will say, My gods which I made, ye took away, and the priest, and ye will go: and what to me yet? and what this ye will say to me, What to thee? 25And the sons of Dan will say to him, Thy voice shall not be heard with us lest men bitter of soul shall strike upon you, and thy soul was taken away, and the soul of thy house. 26And the sons of Dan will go to their way: and Micah will see that they were strong above him, and he will turn and turn back to his house.

27And they took what Micah made, and the priest which was to him, and they will go to Laish, upon a people quiet and confiding: and they will strike them with the mouth of the sword, and they will burn the city with fire. 28And there was none delivering, for it was far off from Sidon, and the word was not to them with man; and it is in the valley which is to the house of the street And they will build the city and dwell in it. 29And they will call the name of the city, Dan, in the name of Dan their father, who will be born to Israel. And yet Laish the name of the city at first. 30And the sons of Dan will raise up to them the carved thing: and Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Danites even to the day of the captivity of the land. 31And they will set up to them Micah's carved thing, which he made, all the days the home of God was in Shiloh.