Micah and the Danites

181 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. 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. 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?' 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.' 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.' 6 And the priest saith to them, 'Go in peace; over-against Jehovah 'is' your way in which ye go.'

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. 8 And they come in unto their brethren, at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren say to them, 'What—ye?' 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. 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.' 11 And there journey thence, of the family of the Danite, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons 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. 13 And they pass over thence 'to' the hill-country of Ephraim, and come in unto 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.' 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,— 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),— 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— 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?' 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?' 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, 21 and they turn and go, and put the infants, and the cattle, and the baggage, before 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, 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?' 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!' 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;' 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.

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, 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, 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. 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. 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.

The Nations Left to Test Israel

31 And these 'are' the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 (only for the sake of the generations of the sons of Israel's knowing, to teach them war, only those who formerly have not known them)— 3 five princes of the Philistines, and all the Canaanite, and the Zidonian, and the Hivite inhabiting mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath; 4 and they are to prove Israel by them, to know whether they obey the commands of Jehovah that He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 And the sons of Israel have dwelt in the midst of the Canaanite, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, 6 and take their daughters to them for wives, and their daughters have given to their sons, and they serve their gods;

Othniel Delivers Israel from Chushan-rishathaim

7 and the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and forget Jehovah their God, and serve the Baalim and the shrines.

8 And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He selleth them into the hand of Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram-Naharaim, and the sons of Israel serve Chushan-Rishathaim eight years; 9 and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth a saviour to the sons of Israel, and he saveth them—Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother; 10 and the Spirit of Jehovah is upon him, and he judgeth Israel, and goeth out to battle, and Jehovah giveth unto his hand Chushan-Rishathaim king of Aram, and strong is his hand against Chushan-Rishathaim; 11 and the land resteth forty years. And Othniel son of Kenaz dieth,

Ehud Delivers Israel from Moab

12 and the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah strengtheneth Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because that they have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; 13 and he gathereth unto him the Bene-Ammon and Amalek, and goeth and smiteth Israel, and they possess the city of palms; 14 and the sons of Israel serve Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. 15 And the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah, and Jehovah raiseth to them a saviour, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjamite (a man—shut of his right hand), and the sons of Israel send by his hand a present to Eglon king of Moab; 16 and Ehud maketh for himself a sword, and it hath two mouths (a cubit 'is' its length), and he girdeth it under his long robe on his right thigh; 17 and he bringeth near the present to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon 'is' a very fat man. 18 And it cometh to pass, when he hath finished to bring near the present, that he sendeth away the people bearing the present, 19 and he himself hath turned back from the graven images which 'are' at Gilgal, and saith, 'A secret word I have unto thee, O king;' and he saith, 'Hush!' and go out from him do all those standing by him. 20 And Ehud hath come unto him, and he is sitting in the upper chamber of the wall which he hath for himself, and Ehud saith, 'A word of God I have unto thee;' and he riseth from off the throne; 21 and Ehud putteth forth his left hand, and taketh the sword from off his right thigh, and striketh it into his belly; 22 and the haft also goeth in after the blade, and the fat shutteth on the blade, that he hath not drawn the sword out of his belly, and it goeth out at the fundament. 23 And Ehud goeth out at the porch, and shutteth the doors of the upper chamber upon him, and hath bolted 'it'; 24 and he hath gone out, and his servants have come in, and look, and lo, the doors of the upper chamber are bolted, and they say, 'He is only covering his feet in the inner chamber of the wall.' 25 And they stay till confounded, and lo, he is not opening the doors of the upper chamber, and they take the key, and open, and lo, their lord is fallen to the earth—dead. 26 And Ehud escaped during their tarrying, and hath passed by the images, and is escaped to Seirath. 27 And it cometh to pass, in his coming in, that he bloweth with a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim, and go down with him do the sons of Israel from the hill-country, and he before them; 28 and he saith unto them, 'Pursue after me, for Jehovah hath given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand;' and they go down after him, and capture the passages of the Jordan towards Moab, and have not permitted a man to pass over. 29 And they smite Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all robust, and every one a man of valour, and not a man hath escaped, 30 and Moab is humbled in that day under the hand of Israel; and the land resteth eighty years.

Shamgar Delivers Israel from the Philistines

31 And after him hath been Shamgar son of Anath, and he smiteth the Philistines—six hundred men—with an ox-goad, and he saveth—he also—Israel.