| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New International Version |
| 1In those days there was no king of Israel; and in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel. | 1In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. |
| 2So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, search the land." And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. | 2So the Danites sent five of their leading men from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, "Go, explore the land." So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. |
| 3When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, "Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?" | 3When they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?" |
| 4He said to them, "Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and I have become his priest." | 4He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, "He has hired me and I am his priest." |
| 5They said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous." | 5Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful." |
| 6The priest said to them, "Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD'S approval." | 6The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD's approval." |
| 7Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. | 7So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. |
| 8When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, "What do you report?" | 8When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, "How did you find things?" |
| 9They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit still? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. | 9They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over. |
| 10"When you enter, you will come to a secure people with a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth." | 10When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever." |
| 11Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. | 11Then six hundred men of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. |
| 12They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim. | 12On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day. |
| 13They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. | 13From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house. |
| 14Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do." | 14Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, "Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do." |
| 15They turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. | 15So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and greeted him. |
| 16The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. | 16The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. |
| 17Now the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took the graven image and the ephod and household idols and the molten image, while the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. | 17The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance of the gate. |
| 18When these went into Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod and household idols and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?" | 18When the five men went into Micah's house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?" |
| 19They said to him, "Be silent, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?" | 19They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?" |
| 20The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and household idols and the graven image and went among the people. | 20The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. |
| 21Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the valuables in front of them. | 21Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left. |
| 22When they had gone some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house assembled and overtook the sons of Dan. | 22When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. |
| 23They cried to the sons of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, "What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together?" | 23As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?" |
| 24He said, "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have besides? So how can you say to me, 'What is the matter with you?'" | 24He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?'" |
| 25The sons of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will fall upon you and you will lose your life, with the lives of your household." | 25The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives." |
| 26So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. | 26So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home. |
| 27Then they took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire. | 27Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. |
| 28And there was no one to deliver them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. | 28There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. |
| 29They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish. | 29They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel--though the city used to be called Laish. |
| 30The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. | 30There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. |
| 31So they set up for themselves Micah's graven image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh. | 31They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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