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Danites
Seek Territory |
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| Judges 18:1 |
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In those days there was no king of Israel; and
in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves
to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as
a possession among the tribes of Israel. |
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| Judges 18:2 |
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So the sons of Dan sent from their family five
men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out
the land and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, search the land." And they
came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. |
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| Judges 18:3 |
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When they were near the house of Micah, they
recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there
and said to him, "Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place?
And what do you have here?" |
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| Judges 18:4 |
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He said to them, "Thus and so has Micah done
to me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest." |
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| Judges 18:5 |
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They said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that
we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous." |
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| Judges 18:6 |
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The priest said to them, "Go in peace; your
way in which you are going has the LORD'S approval." |
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| Judges 18:7 |
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Then the five men departed and came to Laish
and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the
Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything
in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. |
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| Judges 18:8 |
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When they came back to their brothers at Zorah
and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, "What do you report?" |
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| Judges 18:9 |
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They said, "Arise, and let us go up against
them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit
still? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. |
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| Judges 18:10 |
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When you enter, you will come to a secure people
with a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there
is no lack of anything that is on the earth." |
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| Judges 18:11 |
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Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah
and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. |
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| Judges 18:12 |
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They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in
Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is
west of Kiriath-jearim. |
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| Judges 18:13 |
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They passed from there to the hill country of
Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. |
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Danites Take Micah's Idols |
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| Judges 18:14 |
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Then the five men who went to spy out the country
of Laish said to their kinsmen, "Do you know that there are in these houses an
ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore,
consider what you should do." |
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| Judges 18:15 |
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They turned aside there and came to the house
of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. |
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| Judges 18:16 |
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The six hundred men armed with their weapons
of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. |
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| Judges 18:17 |
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Now the five men who went to spy out the land
went up and entered there, and took the graven image and the ephod and household
idols and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate
with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. |
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| Judges 18:18 |
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When these went into Micah's house and took
the graven image, the ephod and household idols and the molten image, the priest
said to them, "What are you doing?" |
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| Judges 18:19 |
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They said to him, "Be silent, put your hand
over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better
for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and
a family in Israel?" |
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| Judges 18:20 |
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The priest's heart was glad, and he took the
ephod and household idols and the graven image and went among the people. |
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| Judges 18:21 |
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Then they turned and departed, and put the little
ones and the livestock and the valuables in front of them. |
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| Judges 18:22 |
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When they had gone some distance from the house
of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house assembled and overtook
the sons of Dan. |
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| Judges 18:23 |
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They cried to the sons of Dan, who turned around
and said to Micah, "What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together?" |
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| Judges 18:24 |
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He said, "You have taken away my gods which
I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have besides? So how
can you say to me, 'What is the matter with you?'" |
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| Judges 18:25 |
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The sons of Dan said to him, "Do not let your
voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will fall upon you and you will lose
your life, with the lives of your household." |
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| Judges 18:26 |
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So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when
Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. |
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| Judges 18:27 |
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Then they took what Micah had made and the priest
who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and
struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire. |
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| Judges 18:28 |
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And there was no one to deliver them, because
it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the
valley which is near Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. |
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| Judges 18:29 |
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They called the name of the city Dan, after
the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the
city formerly was Laish. |
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| Judges 18:30 |
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The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven
image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons
were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the
land. |
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| Judges 18:31 |
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So they set up for themselves Micah's graven
image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh. |
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