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.

At that time Israel didn't have a king. The tribe of Dan was looking for territory where they could live, because up until then they hadn't gained possession of the land granted 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 Danites chose from among them five leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to scout out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. When the men came to the hill country of Ephraim, they arrived at Micah's house where they spent 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?'

While they were there, they recognized the young Levite's accent, so they went to him and asked him, “So who brought you here, and what are you doing in this place? 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.'

“Micah arranged things for me, and he hired me as his priest,” he told them.

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.'

“Please ask the Lord for us so we can find out if our journey will be successful,” they asked him.

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

“Go in peace,” the priest replied. “The journey you are taking is being observed 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.

The five men left and went to the town of Laish. They observed that the people there lived in safety, and followed the customs of the Sidonians. The people were unsuspecting and confident of their security, at home in a productive land. They didn't have a strong ruler, they lived a long way from the Sidonians, and had no other allies to help them.

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

The men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, “What did 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.

“Come on, let's go and attack them!” the men interrupted. “We've surveyed the land, and it's excellent! Aren't you going to do something? Don't put off going there and occupying the land!

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 get there you'll find the people are unsuspecting and the land is extensive. God has given you a place where there's no shortage of anything!”

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 Danite armed men left Zorah and Eshtaol, ready to attack.

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.

En route they camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That's why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called the Camp of Dan to this very day.

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

Then they left from there and went into the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house.

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 scout out the land of Laish told the other tribesmen, “Do you realize that here in these houses there's an ephod, household gods, and a carved idol, an image made with molten silver? So you know what you should 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, —

The five men left the road and went to where the young Levite was living in Micah's home to ask how he was.

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), —

The six hundred Danite armed men stood at the entrance by the gate.

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 —

The five men went inside and took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the image made with molten silver. The priest was standing by the gate 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?'

When the priest saw them taking all the religious objects from Micah's home, he asked 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?'

“Be quiet! Don't say anything! Come with us, and you can be our ‘father’ and priest. Wouldn't it be better for you if instead of being a priest for just one man's household that you were the priest of an Israelite tribe and family?”

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,

This seemed like a good idea to the priest and he left with them. Carrying the ephod, the household idols, and the image made with molten silver, he marched with the people all around him.

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

They continued their journey, putting their children, livestock, and possessions ahead 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,

The Danites were already quite a way from Micah's home when men from Micah's village caught up with them,

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?'

shouting at them. The Danites turned around to face them and asked Micah, “What's the matter with you? Why call out these men to come after us?”

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!'

“You stole the gods I made, and my priest too, and then left. What have you left me with? How can you ask me, ‘What's the matter with you?’”

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;'

“Don't complain to us!” Danites replied. “Otherwise some hot-tempered people here might attack you and you and your family will lose your lives!”

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.

The Danites carried on their way. Micah saw that they were too strong for him to fight so he turned around and went back home.

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,

So the Danites took with them the idols that Micah had made, as well as his priest. They attacked Laish with its peaceful and unsuspecting people, killed them with swords, and burned down the 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,

No one could save them because they were a long way from Sidon and had no other allies to help them. The town was in the valley belonging to Beth-rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.

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.

They renamed the city Dan after their forefather, the son of Israel. Laish was its former name.

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.

The Danites erected the carved idol to worship, and Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons became priests for the tribe of Dan until the time when the people went into captivity from the land.

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.

They worshiped the carved idol that Micah had made the whole time God's Temple was at Shiloh.