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The
Danites Settle in Laish
18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and
in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an
inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their
inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of
Israel.
18:2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men
from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from
Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they
said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to
mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
18:3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the
voice of the young man the Levite: 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 Micah
with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
18:5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of
God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be
prosperous.
18:6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the
LORD is your way wherein ye go.
18:7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw
the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after
the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was
no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in
any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no
business with any man.
18:8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol:
and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
18:9 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 ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess
the land.
18:10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and
to a large land: for God 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 family of the
Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men
appointed with weapons of war.
18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in
Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this
day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
18:13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came
unto the house of Micah.
18:14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the
country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know
that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, 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 house of
the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and
saluted him.
18:16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons
of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the
entering of the gate.
18:17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went
up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the
ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the
priest 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 Micah's house, and fetched the
carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten
image. Then said the priest 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 father
and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the
house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and
a family in Israel?
18:20 And the priest'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 house of
Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house
were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
18:23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they
turned their faces, and said unto Micah, 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 priest, 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 the children of 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 the children of Dan went their way: and when
Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and
went back unto his house.
18:27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and
the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, 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
Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in
the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. 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 father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit
the name of the city was Laish at the first.
18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and
Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and
his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of
the captivity of the land.
18:31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he
made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
