14. Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.”
15. And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare.
16. Now the 600 men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17. And the five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and entered and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed with weapons of war.
18. And when these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19. And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?”
20. And the priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.
21. So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them.
22. When they had gone a distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the people of Dan.
23. And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?”
24. And he said, “You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
25. And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”
26. Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.
27. But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.