12. Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.)
13. And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14. Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”
15. So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him.
16. The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17. Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.
18. When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19. And they said to him, “Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”
20. So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people.
21. Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.
22. When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
23. And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?”
24. So he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ”
25. And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!”