The Koine Bible

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 an inheritance had not fallen to it among the tribes of Israel until that day.

And the sons of Dan sent from their settlements five men, sons of power, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it, and they said to them, Go and explore the land. And they came as far as the hill country of Ephraim, as far as the house of Micah, and they lodged there.

They were in the house of Michaiah, and they recognized the voice of the young Levite, and they turned aside there and said to him, Who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place, and what is there to you here?

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

And they said to him, Ask now in God, and we shall know whether our way in which we are going will prosper.

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

And the five men went and came into Laish, and they saw the people who were in the midst of it dwelling securely, according to the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and there is no one troubling or humiliating by word in the land, inheriting and driving out of a treasure, and they are far from the Sidonians, and they have no dealings with a man.

And the five men came to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol and said to their brothers, Why are you sitting?

And they said, Rise up and let us go up against them, because we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and you are still. Do not hesitate to go and to enter to inherit the land.

And whenever you come, you will come in to a people in hope, and the land is broad, because God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the land.

And they set out from there, from the clans of Dan, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of battle.

And they went up and encamped in Kiriath-jearim in Judah; therefore that place was called Camp of Dan until this day, behold, behind Kiriath-jearim

And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came as far as the house of Micah

And the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish answered and said to their brothers, Do you know that there is in this house an ephod and teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? And now know what you shall do.

And they turned aside there and entered into the house of the young man, the Levite, the house of Micah, and they asked him about peace.

And the six hundred men, those girded with the weapons of their battle line, standing beside the doors of the gate, those from 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 Michaiah, and the priest was standing, and they took the carved image and the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image. And the priest said to them, What are you doing?

And they said to him, Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and become to us for a father and for a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to one man’s house, or to become priest to a tribe and to a house, for a people of Israel?

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

And they turned back and went away and put the children and the livestock and the baggage before them

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

And the sons of Dan turned their face and said to Micah, What is it to you that you have cried out?

And Michaiah said, You have taken my graven image that I made, and the priest, and you have gone away; and what more is to me? And what is this you say to me, Why do you cry out?

And the sons of Dan said to him, Let not your voice be heard with us, lest bitter men in soul meet with us and add soul and the soul of your house.

And the sons of Dan went on their way, and Micah 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 with him, and they came against Laisa, against a people living quietly and trusting in hope, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and they burned the city with fire.

And there was no one rescuing, because it is far from the Sidonians, and there is no dealings for them with any man; and it was 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, by the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; but Ulamais was the name of the city formerly.

And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the carved image, and Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh, 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 graven image that Michaias had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.