Judges 18 · שופטים

In those days there was no king in Yisra᾽el: and in those days the tribe of the Dani sought for itself an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day a due inheritance had not fallen to their share among the tribes of Yisra᾽el.

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their chieftains, men of valour, from Żor῾a, and from Eshta᾽ol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Efrayim, to the house of Mikha, they lodged there.

When they were by the house of Mikha, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned aside there, and said to him, Who brought thee here? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

And he said to them, Thus and thus has Mikha done for me, and has hired me, and I am his priest.

And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

And the priest said to them, Go in peace: the way you go is before the Lord.

Then the five men departed, and came to Layish, and saw the people that were there, how they dwelt in safety, after the manner of the Żidonim, quiet and secure; and there was no one in the land that put them to shame in any thing; such as a hereditary ruler, and they were far from the Żidonim, and had no business with any man.

And they came to their brethren to Żor῾a and Eshta᾽ol: and their brethren said to them, What say you?

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 you idle? be not slothful to go, and to enter and possess the land.

When you go, you shall come to an unsuspecting people, and to a broad land: for God has given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

And from there went out of the family of the Dani, out of Żor῾a and out of Eshta᾽ol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war.

And they went up, and pitched in Qiryat-ye῾arim, in Yehuda: therefore they called that place Maĥane-dan to this day: behold, it is behind Qiryat-ye῾arim.

And they passed from there to mount Efrayim, and came to the house of Mikha.

Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Layish, and said to their brethren, Do you know that there is in these houses an efod, and terafim, and a carved and a molten idol? now therefore consider what you have to do.

And they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, to the house of Mikha, and greeted him.

And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the carved idol, and the efod, and the terafim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girded with weapons of war.

And these went to Mikha’s house, and fetched the carving, the efod, and the terafim, and the molten image. Then said the priest to them, What are you doing?

And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy 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 to the house of one man, or that thou be a priest to a whole tribe and a family in Yisra᾽el?

And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the efod, and the terafim, and the carved idol, and went in the midst of the people.

So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them.

And when they were a good way from the house of Mikha, the men that were in the houses near to Mikha’s house mustered and overtook the children of Dan.

And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Mikha, What ails thee, that thou comest with such a company?

And he said, you have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away: and what have I more? and how then do you say to me, What ails thee?

And the children of Dan said to him, Do not raise thy voice among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

And the children of Dan went their way: and when Mikha saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

And they took the things which Mikha had made, and the priest which he had, and came upon Layish, upon a quiet and unsuspecting people: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Żidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Bet-reĥov. And they built a city, and dwelt in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Yisra᾽el: but the name of the city at first was Layish.

And the children of Dan set up the carving: and Yehonatan, the son of Gershom, the son of Menashshe, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

And they set up for themselves Mikha’s carving, which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shilo.