In those days, there was no king in Yisra'el, and in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking for themselves an inheritance to dwell in, because it had not fallen to them until that day among the tribes of Yisra'el as an inheritance.

And the sons of Dan sent from their family, five men from their borders, men of valor, from Tsore'ah and from Eshta'ol, to scout the land and to investigate it. And they said to them, 'Go, investigate the land.' And they came to the hill country of Efrayim, to the house of Mikah, and they lodged there.

They were with the house of Mikah, 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 here, and what is yours here?'

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

And they said to him, 'Inquire, please, of Elohim, and we will know if our way on which we are going will succeed.'

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

And the five men went and came to Layish, and they saw the people who were in its midst dwelling securely, like the custom of the Sidonians, quiet and trusting, and there was no one who put them to shame in the land, possessing nothing, and they were far from the Sidonians, and they had no dealings with anyone.

And they came to their brothers, to Tsore'ah and to Eshta'ol, and their brothers said to them, 'What about you?'

And they said, 'Arise, and let us go up against them, because we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And you are silent; do not be lazy to go to possess the land.'

When you go, you will go to a trusting people, and the land is wide open, because Elohim 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 family of the Danites, from Tsore'ah and from Eshta'ol, six hundred men, girded with weapons of war.

And they went up and encamped in Kiryat-Yearim, in Yehudah; because of this, they called that place Mahaneh-Dan until this day; behold, it is behind Kiryat-Yearim.

And they passed from there through the hill country of Efrayim and came to the house of Mikah.

And the five men who went to scout the land answered and said to their brothers, 'Do you know that in these houses there is an ephod and teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? And now, know what you will do.'

And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Mikah, and they asked him for peace.

And the six hundred men, girded with their weapons of war, stood at the entrance of the gate, who were from the sons of Dan.

And the five men who went to scout the land went up; they came there, they took the graven image and the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image, and the priest stood at the entrance of the gate, and the six hundred men who were girded with weapons of war.

And these came into the house of Mikah and took the graven image, the ephod, 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 on your mouth, and come with us, and be to us as a father and as a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and to a family in Yisra'el?'

And the heart of the priest was pleased, and he took the ephod and the teraphim and the graven image, and he came into the midst of the people.

And they turned and went, and they put the little ones and the livestock and the valuable possessions before them.

They had gone far from the house of Mikah, and the men who were in the houses near the house of Mikah cried out, and they pursued the sons of Dan.

And they called to the sons of Dan, and they turned their faces and said to Mikah, 'What is wrong with you that you have cried out?'

And he said, 'You have taken my elohim which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away, and what do I have left? And what is this you say to me, 'What is wrong with you?'

And the sons of Dan said to him, 'Do not let your voice be heard with us, lest men of bitter spirit encounter you, and you take your life and the life of your household.'

And the sons of Dan went on their way, and Mikah saw that they were stronger than he, and he turned and went back to his house.

And they took what Mikah had made, and the priest who had been his, and they came upon Layish, upon a quiet and trusting people, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and they burned the city with fire.

And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. And it was in the valley which belongs to Beth-Rehob. And they rebuilt the city and dwelt in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, by the name of Dan their father, who was born to Yisra'el. However, the name of the city was Layish at first.

And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image, and Yonatan, son of Gershom, son of Menasheh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day the land was exiled.

And they set up for themselves the graven image of Mikah, which he had made, all the days that the house of elohim was in Shiloh.