1. In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites were in search of a heritage to dwell in, for up to that time no heritage had been allotted to them among the tribes of Israel.
2. So the Danites sent from their clans five powerful men of Zorah and Eshtaol, to reconnoiter the land and scout it. “Go, scout the land,” they were told. They went into the mountain region of Ephraim, and they spent the night there.
3. While they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite, so they turned aside. They asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? What is your interest here?”
4. “This is what Micah has done for me,” he replied to them. “He has hired me and I have become his priest.”
5. They said to him, “Consult God, that we may know whether the journey we are making will lead to success.”
6. The priest said to them, “Go in peace! The journey you are making is under the eye of the Lord.”
7. So the five men went on and came to Laish. They saw the people there living securely after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and trusting, with no lack of any natural resource. They were distant from the Sidonians and had no dealings with the Arameans.
8. When the five returned to their kin in Zorah and Eshtaol, they were asked, “What do you have to report?”
9. They replied, “Come, let us attack them, for we have seen the land and it is very good. Are you going to hesitate? Do not be slow to go in and take possession of the land!
10. When you go you will come to a trusting people. The land stretches out in both directions, and God has indeed given it into your power—a place where no natural resource is lacking.”
11. So six hundred of the clan of the Danites, men armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
12. They marched up into Judah and encamped near Kiriath-jearim; for this reason the place is called Mahaneh-dan to this day (it lies west of Kiriath-jearim).
13. From there they passed on into the mountain region of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
14. Then the five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land spoke up and said to their kindred, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol overlaid with silver? Now decide what you must do!”
15. So turning in that direction, they went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him.