18:1 In those days [there was] no melekh in Yisrael: and in those days the Shivtei of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day [all their] inheritance had not fallen unto them among the Shivtei of Yisrael.
18:2 And benai Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Tzor'ah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the eretz, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the eretz: who when they came to mount Efrayim, to the bayit of Mikah ( מיכה), they lodged there.
18:3 When they [were] by the bayit of Mikah ( מיכה), they knew the voice of the young man the Levi (לויּי): and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this [place]? and what hast thou here?
18:4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Mikah ( מיכה) with me, and hath hired me, and I am his kohen.
18:5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of Elohim (אלהים), that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
18:6 And the kohen said unto them, Go in Shalom: before YHWH (יהוה) [is] your way wherein ye go.
18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Layish, and saw the people that [were] therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Tzidonians, quiet and secure; and [there was] no magistrate in the eretz, that might put [them] to shame in [any] thing; and they [were] far from the Tzidonians, and had no business with [any] man.
18:8 And they came unto their achim to Tzor'ah and Eshtaol: and their achim said unto them, What [say] ye?
18:9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the eretz, and, Hinnei, it [is] very good: and [are] ye still? be not slothful to go, [and] to enter to possess the eretz.
18:10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large eretz: for Elohim (אלהים) hath given it into your hands; a place where [there is] no want of any thing that [is] in the earth.
18:11 And there went from thence of the mishpakhat Danites, out of Tzor'ah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kiryat-Ye'arim, in Yehudah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-Dan unto this day: Hinnei, [it is] behind Kiryat-Ye'arim.
18:13 And they passed thence unto mount Efrayim, and came unto the bayit of Mikah (מיכה).
18:14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Layish, and said unto their achim, Do ye know that there is in these batim an ephod, and terafim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
18:15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the bayit of the young man the Levi (לויּי), [even] unto the bayit of Mikah (מיכה), and saluted him.
18:16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which [were] of benai Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
18:17 And the five men that went to spy out the eretz went up, [and] came in thither, [and] took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the kohen stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men [that were] appointed with weapons of war.
18:18 And these went into Mikah (מיכה)'s bayit, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the terafim, and the molten image. Then said the kohen unto them, What do ye?
18:19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a avi and a kohen: [is it] better for thee to be a kohen unto the bayit of one man, or that thou be a kohen unto a Shivtei and a family in Yisrael?
18:20 And the kohen's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
18:21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.
18:22 [And] when they were a good way from the bayit of Mikah (מיכה), the men that [were] in the batim near to Mikah (מיכה)'s bayit were gathered together, and overtook benai Dan.
18:23 And they cried unto benai Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Mikah (מיכה), What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
18:24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the kohen, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what [is] this [that] ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
18:25 And benai Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
18:26 And benai Dan went their way: and when Mikah (מיכה) saw that they [were] too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his bayit.
18:27 And they took [the things] which Mikah (מיכה) had made, and the kohen which he had, and came unto Layish, unto a people [that were] at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
18:28 And [there was] no deliverer, because it [was] far from Tzidon, and they had no business with [any] man; and it was in the valley that [lieth] by Beit-Rechov. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
18:29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their avi, who was born unto Yisrael: howbeit the name of the city [was] Layish at the first.
18:30 And benai Dan set up the graven image: and Yahunatan, ben Gershom, ben M'nasheh, he and his banim were kohenim to the Shivtei of Dan until the day of the captivity of the eretz.
18:31 And they set them up Mikah (מיכה)'s graven image, which he made, all the time that the bayit of Elohim (אלהים) was in Shiloh.