The Danites Take Micah’s Idols

The scouts tell the Danites about the shrine in Micah's house, and the armed company turns aside there. While six hundred warriors stand at the gate, the five men take the carved image, ephod, household gods, and molten image, and they persuade the Levite to leave Micah and become priest to a tribe instead of one household, a proposal he gladly accepts.

T¹⁴hen the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.” ¹⁵So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him. ¹⁶The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war. ¹⁷And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men. ¹⁸When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” ¹⁹“Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?” ²⁰So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people.

With children, livestock, and goods in front of them, the Danites depart. Micah and his neighbors pursue and protest the loss of his gods and priest, but the Danites threaten violence, and Micah returns home when he sees they are stronger than he is.

²¹Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed. ²²After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites. ²³When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?” ²⁴He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” ²⁵The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” ²⁶So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.

The Danites attack the quiet and unsuspecting people of Laish, burn the city, rebuild it, and rename it Dan. There they set up Micah's image and establish a priestly line from Jonathan son of Gershom until the captivity of the land, so that the stolen cult remains in place even while the house of God stands at Shiloh.

²⁷After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city. ²⁸There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. ²⁹And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there. They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel — though the city was formerly named Laish. ³⁰The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.