Judges 18

In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, because until that day no inheritance had fallen to it in the midst of the tribes of Israel.

And the sons of Dan sent from their clans five men, sons of valour, from Saraa and from Esthaol, to spy out the land and to search it thoroughly; and they said to them: Go and search out the land. And they came as far as the mountain of Ephraim, as far as the house of Michaias, and they lodged there.

They were at the house of Michaias, and they recognized 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 have you here?

And he said to them: Thus and thus Michaias did for me, and he hired me, and I became a priest to him.

And they said to him: Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the way on which we are going will prosper.

And the priest said to them: Go in peace; your way on which you are going is before the Lord.

And the five men went and came to Laisa, and they saw the people in her midst dwelling in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, at rest; and there was no one putting to shame or disgracing a word in the land, no heir squeezing out treasure; and they are far from the Sidonians and have no dealings with any person.

And the five men came to their brothers at Saraa and Esthaol, and they said to their brothers: Why are you sitting still?

And they said: Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And you are keeping still! Do not be slow to go and to enter in to take possession of the land.

And when you come, you will enter to a people dwelling in security, and the land is broad, for God has given it into your hand — a place where there is no lack there of anything that is in the land.

And there set out from there, from the clans of Dan, from Saraa and from Esthaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of battle array.

And they went up and encamped at Kariathiarim in Iouda. Therefore that place was called the Camp of Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Kariathiarim.

And they passed on from there to the mountain of Ephraim and came as far as the house of Michaias.

And the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laisa answered and said to their brothers: You know that in this house there are an ephod and teraphin and a carved image and a cast image. And now consider what you will do.

And they turned aside there and entered the house of the young man, the Levite, the house of Michaias, and asked him after his welfare.

And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of battle array stood at the door of the gate — those of the sons of Dan.

And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up.

And they entered there into the house of Michaias, and the priest was standing there, and they took the carved image and the ephod and the teraphin and the cast image. And the priest said to them: What are you doing?

And they said to him: Be silent, put your hand upon your mouth, and come with us, and become to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest of the house of one man, or for you to become priest of a tribe and a house, to a clan in Israel?

And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod and the teraphin and the carved image and the cast image, and he went in the midst of the people.

And they turned and departed, and they put the children and the possessions and the baggage in front of them.

They had gone far from the house of Michaias, and behold, Michaias and the men in the houses that were near the house of Michaias cried out and overtook the sons of Dan.

And the sons of Dan turned their face and said to Michaias: What is the matter with you, that you have cried out?

And Michaias said: You have taken my carved image which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away; and what is left to me? And how is it that you say to me: What are you crying about?

And the sons of Dan said to him: Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest men bitter in soul fall in with us, and they add a life, even the life of your household.

And the sons of Dan went on their way; and Michaias saw that they were stronger than he, and he turned back to his house.

And the sons of Dan took what Michaias had made, and the priest who was his, and they came against Laisa, against a people at rest and confident in security, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and they burned the city with fire.

And there was no deliverer, because it is far from the Sidonians, and they have no dealings with anyone; and it lay in the valley of the house of Raab. And they built the city and settled in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; and Oulamais was the name of the city formerly.

And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Ionatham son of Gersom, son of Manasse, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the deportation of the land.

And they set up for themselves the carved image which Michaias had made, all the days that the house of God was in Selom.