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Micah asked him, "Where have you come from?" The young man answered, "I am a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live."

At that time the Israelites did not have a king. And the tribe of Dan was still looking for a place to live. They did not have their own land yet. The other tribes of Israel already had their land, but the tribe of Dan had not taken their land yet.

So the tribe of Dan sent five soldiers to look for some land. They went to search for a good place to live. These five men were from the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol. They were chosen because they were from all the families of Dan. They were told, "Go, look for some land." The five men came to the hill country of Ephraim. They came to Micah's house and spent the night there.

The young man told them what Micah had done for him. "Micah hired me," he said. "I am his priest."

So they said to him, "Please ask God if our search for a place to live will be successful."

So 600 men from the tribe of Dan left the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol. They were ready for war.

The 600 men from the tribe of Dan stood at the entrance of the gate. They all had their weapons and were ready for war.

The five spies went into the house. The priest stood just outside by the gate with the 600 men who were ready for war. The men took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol. The young Levite priest said, "What are you doing?"

The five men answered, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us. Be our father and our priest. You must choose. Is it better for you to be a priest for just one man or for a whole tribe of Israelites with many family groups?"

Micah answered, "You men from Dan took my idols. I made them for myself. You have also taken my priest. What do I have left now? How can you ask me, ‘What's the problem?'"

Then the men of Dan turned around and went on their way. Micah knew that these men were too strong for him, so he went back home.

The people living in Laish did not have anyone to rescue them. They lived too far from the city of Sidon for the people there to help. And the people of Laish did not have any agreements with the people of Aram—so they did not help them. The city of Laish was in a valley, which belonged to the town of Beth Rehob. The people from Dan built a new city in that place, and it became their home.

The people of the tribe of Dan set up the idol in the city of Dan. They made Jonathan son of Gershom their priest. Gershom was the son of Moses. Jonathan and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time when the Israelites were taken into captivity.

The people of Dan set up for themselves the idol that Micah had made. That idol was there the whole time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

But his slave woman had an argument with him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there for four months.

The woman's father led the Levite into his house. The Levite's father-in-law invited him to stay. So he stayed for three days. He ate, drank, and slept in his father-in-law's house.

The Levite answered, "We have come from Bethlehem in Judah, where I went for a visit. Now I am on my way home, which is a long way into the hill country of Ephraim. I expected that someone here would invite us in for the night, but no one has.

We already have straw and food for our donkeys. There is also bread and wine for me, the young woman, and my servant. We don't need anything."

We will choose ten men from every 100 from all the tribes of Israel. And we will choose 100 men from every 1000. We will choose 1000 men from every 10,000. These men we have chosen will get supplies for the army. Then the army will go to the city of Gibeah in the area of Benjamin. The army will punish those people for the terrible thing they did among the Israelites."

The people from the tribe of Benjamin got 26,000 soldiers together who were trained for war. They also had 700 trained soldiers from the city of Gibeah.