Judges 18
1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
In tho daies was no kyng in Israel; and the lynage of Dan souyte possessioun to it silf, to dwelle ther ynne; for `til to that dai it hadde not take eritage among other lynagis.
2 So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.
Therfor the sones of Dan senten fyue the strongeste men of her generacioun and meynee fro Saraa and Escahol, that thei schulden aspie the lond, and biholde diligentli. And thei seiden to hem, Go ye, and biholde the lond. And whanne thei goynge hadden come in to the hil of Effraym, and hadden entrid in to the hows of Mycha, thei restiden there.
3 And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”
And thei knewen the voys of the yong wexynge dekene; and thei restiden in `the yn of hym, and seiden to hym, Who brouyte thee hidur? What doist thou here? For what cause woldist thou come hidur?
4 “Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.”
Which answeride `to hem, Mychas yaf to me these and these thingis, and hiride me for meede, that Y be preest to hym.
5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to determine whether we will have a successful journey.”
Forsothe thei preieden hym, that he schulde counsele the Lord, and thei myyten wite, whether thei yeden in weie of prosperite, and the thing schulde haue effect.
6 And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.”
Which answeride to hem, Go ye with pees, the Lord biholdith youre weie, and the iourney whidur ye goon.
7 So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, tranquil and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.
Therfor the fyue men yeden, and camen to Lachys; and thei siyen the puple dwellynge ther ynne with outen ony drede, bi the custom of Sidonyis, sikur and resteful, for no man outirli ayenstood hem, and `of grete richessis, and fer fro Sidon, and departid fro alle men.
8 When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”
And thei turneden ayen to her britheren in Saraa and Escahol; and thei answeriden to `britheren axynge what thei hadden do,
9 They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!
Rise ye, and stie we to hem, for we siyen the lond ful riche and plenteuous; nyle ye be necgligent, nil ye ceesse, go we, and haue it in possessioun;
10 When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has delivered it into your hand. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”
no trauel schal be; we schulen entre to sikir men, in to a largeste cuntrey; and the Lord schal bitake to vs a place, wher ynne is not pouert of ony thing of tho that ben brouyt forth in erthe.
11 So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.
Therfor sixe hundrid men gird with armeris of batel yeden forth `of the kynrede of Dan, that is, fro Saraa and Escahol.
12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
And thei stieden, and dwelliden in Cariathiarym of Juda, which place took fro that tyme the name of Castels of Dan, and is bihyndis the bak of Cariathiarym.
13 And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.
Fro thennus thei passiden in to the hil of Effraym; and whanne thei hadden come to the hows of Mychas, the fyue men,
14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”
that weren sent bifore to biholde the lond of Lachis, seiden to her other britheren, Ye knowen, that ephod, and theraphyn, and a grauun ymage and yotun is in these housis; se ye what plesith you.
15 So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him.
And whanne thei hadden bowid a litil, thei entriden in to the hows of the yong dekene, that was in the hows of Mychas, and thei gretten hym with pesible wordis.
16 The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war.
Forsothe sixe hundrid men stoden bifore the dore, so as thei weren armed. And thei, that entriden in to the `hows of the yong man, enforsiden to take awey the grauun ymage, and the ephod, and theraphin, and the yotun ymage; and the preest stood bifore the dore,
17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.
while sixe hundrid strongeste men abideden not fer.
18 When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
Therfor thei that entriden token the grauun ymage, ephod, and idols, and the yotun ymage; to whiche the preest seide, What doen ye?
19 “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”
To whom thei answeriden, Be thou stille, and putte the fyngur on thi mouth, and come with vs, that we haue thee fadir and preest. What is betere to thee, that thou be preest in the hows of o man, whether in o lynage and meynee in Israel?
20 So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people.
And whanne he hadde herd this, he assentide to `the wordis of hem, and he took the ephod, and ydols, and the grauun ymage, and yede forth with hem.
21 Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed.
And whanne thei yeden, and hadden maad the litle children, and werk beestis, and al thing that was preciouse, to go bifor hem;
22 After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites.
and whanne thei weren now fer fro `the hows of Mychas, men that dwelliden in the housis of Mychas, crieden togidere, and sueden,
23 When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”
and bigunnun to crye `aftir the bak. Whiche whanne thei hadden biholde, seiden to Mychas, What wolt thou to thee? whi criest thou?
24 He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
Which answeride, Ye han take awey my goddis whiche Y made to me, and the preest, and alle thingis whiche Y haue; and ye seien, What is to thee?
25 The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”
And the sones of Dan seiden to hym, Be war, lest thou speke more to vs, and men styrid in soule come to thee, and thou perische with al thin hows.
26 So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.
And so thei yeden forth in the iourney bigunnun. Forsothe Mychas siy, that thei weren strongere than he, and turnede ayen in to his hows.
27 After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a tranquil and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.
Forsothe sixe hundrid men token the preest, and the thingis whiche we biforseiden, and camen in to Lachis to the puple restynge and sikur; and thei smytiden hem bi the scharpnesse of swerd, and bitoken the citee to brennyng,
28 There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.
while no man outirli yaf help, for thei dwelliden fer fro Sydon, and hadden not ony thing of felouschipe and cause with ony of men. Forsothe the citee was set in the cuntrei of Roob; which citee thei bildiden eft, and dwelliden ther ynne;
29 They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.
while the name of the citee was clepid Dan, bi the name of her fadir, whom Israel hadde gendrid, which citee was seid Lachis bifore.
30 The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
And `thei settiden there the grauun ymage, and Jonathas, sone of Jerson, sone of Moises, and `Jonathas sones, preestis, in the lynage of Dan, til in to the dai of her caitifte.
31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.
And the idol of Mychas dwellide at hem, in al the tyme `in which the hows of God was in Silo. In tho daies was no kyng in Israel.
