Iudicum 18
1 In diebus illis non erat rex in Israël, et tribus Dan quærebat possessionem sibi, ut habitaret in ea: usque ad illum enim diem inter ceteras tribus sortem non acceperat.
In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
2 Miserunt ergo filii Dan stirpis et familiæ suæ quinque viros fortissimos de Saraa et Esthaol, ut explorarent terram, et diligenter inspicerent: dixeruntque eis: Ite, et considerate terram. Qui cum pergentes venissent in montem Ephraim, et intrassent domum Michæ, requieverunt ibi:
The children of Dan sent five men of their family from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land!” They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.
3 et agnoscentes vocem adolescentis Levitæ, utentesque illius diversorio, dixerunt ad eum: Quis te huc adducit? quid hic agis? quam ob causam huc venire voluisti?
When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; so they went over there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?”
4 Qui respondit eis: Hæc et hæc præstitit mihi Michas, et me mercede conduxit, ut sim ei sacerdos.
He said to them, “Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.”
5 Rogaverunt autem eum ut consuleret Dominum ut scire possent an prospero itinere pergerent, et res haberet effectum.
They said to him, “Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.”
6 Qui respondit eis: Ite in pace: Dominus respicit viam vestram, et iter quo pergitis.
The priest said to them, “Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before the LORD.”
7 Euntes igitur quinque viri venerunt Lais: videruntque populum habitantem in ea absque ullo timore, juxta consuetudinem Sidoniorum, securum et quietum, nullo ei penitus resistente, magnarumque opum, et procul a Sidone atque a cunctis hominibus separatum.
Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in safety, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone else.
8 Reversique ad fratres suos in Saraa et Esthaol, et quid egissent sciscitantibus responderunt:
They came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol; and their brothers asked them, “What do you say?”
9 Surgite, ascendamus ad eos: vidimus enim terram valde opulentam et uberem. Nolite negligere, nolite cessare: eamus, et possideamus eam: nullus erit labor.
They said, “Arise, and let’s go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Do you stand still? Don’t be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.
10 Intrabimus ad securos, in regionem latissimam, tradetque nobis Dominus locum, in quo nullius rei est penuria eorum quæ gignuntur in terra.
When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”
11 Profecti igitur sunt de cognatione Dan, id est, de Saraa et Esthaol, sexcenti viri accincti armis bellicis,
The family of the Danites set out from Zorah and Eshtaol with six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
12 ascendentesque manserunt in Cariathiarim Judæ: qui locus ex eo tempore Castrorum Dan nomen accepit, et est post tergum Cariathiarim.
They went up and encamped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim.
13 Inde transierunt in montem Ephraim. Cumque venissent ad domum Michæ,
They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14 dixerunt quinque viri, qui prius missi fuerant ad considerandam terram Lais, ceteris fratribus suis: Nostis quod in domibus istis sit ephod, et theraphim, et sculptile, atque conflatile: videte quid vobis placeat.
Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a carved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do.”
15 Et cum paululum declinassent, ingressi sunt domum adolescentis Levitæ, qui erat in domo Michæ: salutaveruntque eum verbis pacificis.
They went over there and came to the house of the young Levite man, even to the house of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.
16 Sexcenti autem viri ita ut erant armati, stabant ante ostium.
The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17 At illi, qui ingressi fuerant domum juvenis, sculptile, et ephod, et theraphim, atque conflatile tollere nitebantur, et sacerdos stabat ante ostium, sexcentis viris fortissimis haud procul expectantibus.
The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.
18 Tulerunt igitur qui intraverant sculptile, ephod, et idola, atque conflatile. Quibus dixit sacerdos: Quid facitis?
When these went into Micah’s house, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19 Cui responderunt: Tace et pone digitum super os tuum: venique nobiscum, ut habeamus te patrem, ac sacerdotem. Quid tibi melius est, ut sis sacerdos in domo unius viri, an in una tribu et familia in Israël?
They said to him, “Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us. Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”
20 Quod cum audisset, acquievit sermonibus eorum, et tulit ephod, et idola, ac sculptile, et profectus est cum eis.
The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went with the people.
21 Qui cum pergerent, et ante se ire fecissent parvulos ac jumenta, et omne quod erat pretiosum,
So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods before them.
22 et jam a domo Michæ essent procul, viri qui habitabant in ædibus Michæ conclamantes secuti sunt,
When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.
23 et post tergum clamare cœperunt. Qui cum respexissent, dixerunt ad Micham: Quid tibi vis? cur clamas?
As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces, and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you come with such a company?”
24 Qui respondit: Deos meos, quos mihi feci, tulistis, et sacerdotem, et omnia quæ habeo, et dicitis: Quid tibi est?
He said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away! What more do I have? How can you ask me, ‘What ails you?’”
25 Dixeruntque ei filii Dan: Cave ne ultra loquaris ad nos, et veniant ad te viri animo concitati, et ipse cum omni domo tua pereas.
The children of Dan said to him, “Don’t let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.”
26 Et sic cœpto itinere perrexerunt. Videns autem Michas quod fortiores se essent, reversus est in domum suam.
The children of Dan went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27 Sexcenti autem viri tulerunt sacerdotem, et quæ supra diximus: veneruntque in Lais ad populum quiescentem atque securum, et percusserunt eos in ore gladii: urbemque incendio tradiderunt,
They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword; then they burned the city with fire.
28 nullo penitus ferente præsidium, eo quod procul habitarent a Sidone, et cum nullo hominum haberent quidquam societatis ac negotii. Erat autem civitas sita in regione Rohob: quam rursum exstruentes habitaverunt in ea,
There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city and lived in it.
29 vocato nomine civitatis Dan, juxta vocabulum patris sui, quem genuerat Israël, quæ prius Lais dicebatur.
They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; however the name of the city used to be Laish.
30 Posueruntque sibi sculptile, et Jonathan filium Gersam filii Moysi ac filios ejus sacerdotes in tribu Dan, usque ad diem captivitatis suæ.
The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 Mansitque apud eos idolum Michæ omni tempore quo fuit domus Dei in Silo. In diebus illis non erat rex in Israël.
So they set up for themselves Micah’s engraved image which he made, and it remained all the time that God’s house was in Shiloh.
