Judges 18

1 In those days there is no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danite is seeking for itself an inheritance to inhabit, for [that] hath not fallen to it unto that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel by inheritance.

In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel.

2 And the sons of Dan send, out of their family, five men of them, men, sons of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to traverse the land, and to search it, and they say unto them, 'Go, search the land;' and they come into the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodge there.

So the children of Dan sent five men from among their number, strong men, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to take a look at the land and make a search through it; and they said to them, Go and make a search through the land; and they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, where they made a stop for the night.

3 They [are] with the household of Micah, and they have discerned the voice of the young man, the Levite, and turn aside there, and say to him, 'Who hath brought thee hither? and what art thou doing in this [place?] and what to thee here?'

When they were near the house of Micah, hearing a voice which was not strange to them, that of the young Levite, they went out of their road to his place, and said to him, How did you come here? and what are you doing in this place? and why are you here?

4 And he saith unto them, 'Thus and thus hath Micah done to me; and he hireth me, and I am to him for a priest.'

And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest.

5 And they say to him, 'Ask, we pray thee, at God, and we know whether our way is prosperous on which we are going.'

Then they said, Do get directions from God for us, to see if the journey on which we are going will have a good outcome.

6 And the priest saith to them, 'Go in peace; over-against Jehovah [is] your way in which ye go.'

And the priest said to them, Go in peace: your way is guided by the Lord.

7 And the five men go, and come in to Laish, and see the people which [is] in its midst, dwelling confidently, according to the custom of Zidonians, quiet and confident; and there is none putting to shame in the land in [any] thing, possessing restraint, and they [are] far off from the Zidonians, and have no word with [any] man.

Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram.

8 And they come in unto their brethren, at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren say to them, 'What — ye?'

So they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, What news have you?

9 And they say, 'Rise, and we go up against them, for we have seen the land, and lo, very good; and ye are keeping silent! be not slothful to go — to enter to possess the land.

And they said, Up! and let us go against Laish; for we have seen the land, and it is very good: why are you doing nothing? Do not be slow to go in and take the land for your heritage.

10 When ye go, ye come in unto a people confident, and the land [is] large on both hands, for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything which [is] in the land.'

When you come there you will come to a people living without thought of danger; and the land is wide, and God has given it into your hands: a place where there is everything on earth for man's needs.

11 And there journey thence, of the family of the Danite, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war.

So six hundred men of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol went out armed with instruments of war.

12 And they go up and encamp in Kirjath-Jearim, in Judah, therefore they have called that place, 'Camp of Dan,' till this day; lo, behind Kirjath-Jearim.

And they went up and put up their tents in Kiriath-jearim in Judah: so that place is named Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is to the west of Kiriath-jearim.

13 And they pass over thence [to] the hill-country of Ephraim, and come in unto the house of Micah.

From there they went on to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

14 And the five men, those going to traverse the land of Laish, answer and say unto their brethren, 'Have ye known that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and graven image, and molten image? and now, know what ye do.'

Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the country of Laish, said to their brothers, Have you knowledge that in these houses there is an ephod and family gods and a pictured image and a metal image? So now you see what to do.

15 And they turn aside thither, and come in unto the house of the young man the Levite, the house of Micah, and ask of him of welfare, —

And turning from their road they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and said to him, Is it well with you?

16 (and the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who [are] of the sons of Dan, are standing at the opening of the gate), —

And the six hundred armed men of the Danites took their places by the doorway.

17 yea, the five men, those going to traverse the land, go up — they have come in thither — they have taken the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image — and the priest is standing at the opening of the gate, and the six hundred men who are girded with weapons of war —

Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the land, went in and took the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image; and the priest was by the doorway with the six hundred armed men.

18 yea, these have entered the house of Micah, and take the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest saith unto them, 'What are ye doing?'

And when they went into Micah's house and took out the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image, the priest said to them, What are you doing?

19 and they say to him, 'Keep silent, lay thy hand on thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us for a father and for a priest: is it better thy being a priest to the house of one man, or thy being priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel?'

And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

20 And the heart of the priest is glad, and he taketh the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and goeth into the midst of the people,

Then the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the family gods and the pictured image and went with the people.

21 and they turn and go, and put the infants, and the cattle, and the baggage, before them.

So they went on their way again, putting the little ones and the oxen and the goods in front of them.

22 They have been far off from the house of Micah — and the men who [are] in the houses which [are] near the house of Micah have been called together, and overtake the sons of Dan,

When they had gone some way from the house of Micah, the men from the houses near Micah's house came together and overtook the children of Dan,

23 and call unto the sons of Dan, and they turn round their faces, and say to Micah, 'What — to thee that thou hast been called together?'

Crying out to them. And the Danites, turning round, said to Micah, What is your trouble, that you have taken up arms?

24 And he saith, 'My gods which I made ye have taken, and the priest, and ye go; and what to me more? and what [is] this ye say unto me, What — to thee!'

And he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and my priest, and have gone away; what is there for me now? Why then do you say to me, What is your trouble?

25 And the sons of Dan say unto him, 'Let not thy voice be heard with us, lest men bitter in soul fall upon you, and thou hast gathered thy life, and the life of thy household;'

And the children of Dan said to him, Say no more, or men of bitter spirit may make an attack on you, causing loss of your life and the lives of your people.

26 and the sons of Dan go on their way, and Micah seeth that they are stronger than he, and turneth, and goeth back unto his house.

Then the children of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he went back to his house.

27 And they have taken that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and come in against Laish, against a people quiet and confident, and smite them by the mouth of the sword, and the city have burnt with fire,

And they took that which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people living quietly and without thought of danger, and they put them to the sword without mercy, burning down their town.

28 and there is no deliverer, for it [is] far off from Zidon, and they have no word with [any] man, and it [is] in the valley which [is] by Beth-Rehob; and they build the city, and dwell in it,

And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place.

29 and call the name of the city Dan, by the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; and yet Laish [is] the name of the city at the first.

And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first.

30 And the sons of Dan raise up for themselves the graven image, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons have been priests to the tribe of the Danite, till the day of the removal of [the people] of the land.

(And the children of Dan put up the pictured image for themselves; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites till the day when the ark was taken prisoner.)

31 And they appoint for them the graven image of Micah, which he had made, all the days of the house of God being in Shiloh.

And they put up for themselves the image which Micah had made, and it was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.