Iudicum 18

1 In diebus illis non erat rex in Israel, 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: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought for themselves an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day all 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:

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their land, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they 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: and they turned in there, and said to him, Who brought thee here? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

4 Qui respondit eis: Hæc, et hæc præstitit mihi Michas, et me mercede conduxit ut sim ei sacerdos.

And he said to them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

5 Rogaverunt autem eum ut consuleret Dominum, ut scire possent an prospero itinere pergerent, et res haberet effectum.

And they said to him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, 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.

And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way in which ye go.

7 Euntes igitur quinque viri venerunt Lais: videruntque populum habitantem in ea absque ullo timore, iuxta 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 that were in it, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

8 Reversique ad fratres suos in Saraa et Esthaol, et quid egissent sciscitantibus responderunt:

And they came to their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said to them, What say ye?

9 Surgite, ascendamus ad eos: vidimus enim terram valde opulentam et uberem: nolite negligere, nolite cessare. Eamus, et possideamus eam, nullus erit labor.

And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter 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 ye go, ye shall come to a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is on the earth.

11 Profecti igitur sunt de cognatione Dan, id est, de Saraa et Esthaol sexcenti viri accincti armis bellicis,

And there went from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.

12 ascendentesque manserunt in Cariathiarim Iudæ: qui locus ex eo tempore Castrorum Dan, nomen accepit, et est post tergum Cariathiarim.

And they went up, and encamped in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: therefore they called that place Mahanehdan to this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.

13 Inde transierunt in montem Ephraim. Cumque venissent ad domum Michæ,

And they passed from there to mount 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 answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

15 Et cum paululum declinassent, ingressi sunt domum adolescentis Levitæ, qui erat in domo Michæ: salutaveruntque eum verbis pacificis.

And they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and greeted him.

16 Sexcenti autem viri ita ut erant armati, stabant ante ostium.

And the six hundred men appointed 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 iuvenis, sculptile, et ephod, et theraphim, atque conflatile tollere nitebantur, et sacerdos stabat ante ostium, sexcentis viris fortissimis haud procul expectantibus.

And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.

18 Tulerunt igitur qui intraverant sculptile, ephod, et idola, atque conflatile. Quibus dixit sacerdos: Quid facitis?

And these went into Micah’s house, and brought the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest to them, What do ye?

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 Israel?

And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest to the house of one man, or that thou shouldest be a 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.

And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

21 Qui cum pergerent, et ante se ire fecissent parvulos ac iumenta, et omne quod erat pretiosum,

So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the possessions before them.

22 et iam a domo Michæ essent procul, viri qui habitabant in ædibus Michæ conclamantes secuti sunt,

And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were 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?

And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?

24 Qui respondit: Meos deos, quos mihi feci, tulistis, et sacerdotem, et omnia quæ habeo, et dicitis: Quid tibi est?

And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye have gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say to me, What aileth thee?

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.

And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows rush upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

26 Et sic cœpto itinere perrexerunt. Videns autem Michas, quod fortiores se essent, reversus est in domum suam.

And the children of Dan departed: 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,

And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came to Laish, to a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt 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 extruentes habitaverunt in ea,

And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt in it.

29 vocato nomine civitatis Dan iuxta vocabulum patris sui, quem genuerat Israel, quæ prius Lais dicebatur.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: but the name of the city was Laish at the first.

30 Posueruntque sibi sculptile, et Ionathan filium Gersam filii Moysi, ac filios eius sacerdotes in tribu Dan, usque ad diem captivitatis suæ.

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan 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 Israel.

And they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.