In thosedaysthere was no king in Israel: and in thosedays the tribe of the Danitessoughtthem an inheritance to dwell in; for untothat day all theirinheritance had not fallenuntothemamong the tribes of Israel.
And the children of Dan sent of theirfamilyfive men fromtheircoasts, men of valour, fromZorah, and fromEshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and theysaiduntothem, Go, search the land: who whentheycame to mountEphraim, to the house of Micah, theylodgedthere.
Whentheywere by the house of Micah, theyknew the voice of the young man the Levite: and theyturned in thither, and saidunto him, Who broughttheehither? and whatmakestthou in thisplace? and whathastthouhere?
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the peoplethatweretherein, how theydweltcareless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, thatmight put them to shame in any thing; and theywere far from the Zidonians, and had no businesswith any man.
And theysaid, Arise, that we may go up againstthem: for we haveseen the land, and, behold, it is verygood: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
When ye go, ye shallcomeunto a peoplesecure, and to a largeland: for God hathgiven it intoyourhands; a placewherethere is no want of any thingthat is in the earth.
Thenanswered the five men thatwent to spy out the country of Laish, and saiduntotheirbrethren, Do ye knowthatthere is in thesehouses an ephod, and teraphim, and a gravenimage, and a moltenimage? now thereforeconsiderwhat ye have to do.
And the five men thatwent to spy out the landwent up, and came in thither, and took the gravenimage, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the moltenimage: and the prieststood in the entering of the gatewith the six hundred men thatwereappointedwithweapons of war.
And theysaidunto him, Hold thy peace, lay thinehandupon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priestunto the house of one man, or thatthou be a priestunto a tribe and a family in Israel?
And whentheywere a good way from the house of Micah, the men thatwere in the housesnear to Micah’shouseweregatheredtogether, and overtook the children of Dan.
And he said, Ye havetakenaway my godswhich I made, and the priest, and ye are goneaway: and whathave I more? and what is thisthat ye say unto me, Whataileththee?
And the children of Dan saidunto him, Let not thy voice be heardamong us, lestangryfellows run uponthee, and thoulose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
And theytook the thingswhichMicah had made, and the priestwhich he had, and cameuntoLaish, unto a peoplethatwere at quiet and secure: and theysmotethemwith the edge of the sword, and burnt the citywithfire.
And there was no deliverer, because it was far fromZidon, and they had no businesswith any man; and it was in the valleythatlieth by Bethrehob. And theybuilt a city, and dwelttherein.
And theycalled the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan theirfather, who was bornuntoIsrael: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
And the children of Dan set up the gravenimage: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sonswerepriests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.