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Chapter 18
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1
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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. |
2
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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. |
3
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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? |
4
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And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah
with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. |
5
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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. |
6
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And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before
the LORD is your way wherein ye go. |
7
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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. |
8
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And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol:
and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? |
9
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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. |
10
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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. |
11
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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. |
12
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And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in
Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto
this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim. |
13
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And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came
unto the house of Micah. |
14
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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. |
15
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And they turned thitherward, and came to the house
of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah,
and saluted him. |
16
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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. |
17
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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
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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? |
19
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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? |
20
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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. |
21
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So they turned and departed, and put the little ones
and the cattle and the carriage before them. |
22
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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. |
23
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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? |
24
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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? |
25
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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. |
26
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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. |
27
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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. |
28
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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. |
29
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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. |
30
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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. |
31
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And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he
made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. |
