ULT by section JDG 18:1

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The Book of Judges 18

18 In those days a king was not in Israel. Now in those days, the tribe of the Danite was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell, for one had not fallen to it up to that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel for an inheritance. 2 And the sons of Dan sent from their clan five men, men from their borders, sons of valor from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy on the land and to examine it. And they said to them, “Go, examine the land.” And they entered the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they lodged there. 3 They were near the house of Micah, and they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite. So they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what is to you here?” 4 And he said to them, “Like this and like this Micah has done for me: now he has hired me, and I am to him for a priest.” 5 And they said to him, “Please inquire of God that we may know, will our way prosper, upon which we are going?” 6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace, your way upon which you are going is before Yahweh.” 7 So the five men went, and they came to Laish. And they saw the people who were in the midst of it dwelling in security, according to the manner of the Sidonians, reposing and being secure. And no one possessing restraint was humiliating for a thing in the land. And they were far from the Sidonians, and no thing was to them with man. 8 So they came to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol. And their brothers said to them, “What you?” 9 And they said, “Arise, and let us go up against them! For we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And are you being silent? May you not slacken yourselves to go to enter to possess the land! 10 When you go, you will come to a people being secure, and the land is broad at two hands. For God has given it into your hand, a place where no lack is there of any thing that is on the earth.” 11 So they journeyed from there, from the clan of the Danite, from Zorah and Eshtaol, 600 men girded with weapons of war. 12 And they went up and camped at Kiriath Jearim in Judah. Upon this they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. Behold, it is beside Kiriath Jearim. 13 And they passed over from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and they came to the house of Micah. 14 Then the five men having gone to spy on the land of Laish, answered and said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses are an ephod and teraphim and an idol and a molded image? And now, consider what you shall do.” 15 So they turned aside there, and they entered into the house of the young man, the Levite, at the house of Micah, and they asked of him concerning peace. 16 Now the 600 men girded with weapons of war who were from the sons of Dan had stationed themselves at the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men having gone to spy on the land came up. They entered there. They took the idol and the ephod and the teraphim and the molded image. And the priest was stationing himself at the entrance of the gate with the 600 men girded with weapons of war. 18 And these entered the house of Micah and took the idol, the ephod and the teraphim and the molded image. And the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 And they said to him, “Be quiet! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be to us for a father and for a priest. Is the good your being a priest for the house of one man or your being a priest for a tribe and for a clan in Israel?” 20 And the heart of the priest was good, and he took the ephod and the teraphim and the idol, and he went in the midst of the people. 21 And they turned and they went. And they put the children and the cattle and the wealth to their faces. 22 They themselves had gone far from the house of Micah, and the men who were in the houses that were near the house of Micah assembled themselves, and they overtook the sons of Dan. 23 And they called to the sons of Dan, and they turned their faces and they said to Micah, “What to you, that you have assembled yourself?” 24 And he said, “My gods, which I made, you took, and the priest, and you went. And what is still to me? So what is this, you say to me, ‘What to you?’ ” 25 And sons of Dan said to him, “You should not make your voice heard among us, lest men bitter of soul strike you and you gather your soul and the soul of your house.” 26 And the sons of Dan went on their way, for Micah perceived that they were stronger than him. And he turned and returned to his house. 27 But they themselves took what Micah had made and the priest who was to him. And they came to Laish, to a people reposing and being secure. And they struck them to the mouth of the sword, and they burned the city with fire. 28 And there was not a deliverer, for it was far from Sidon and no thing was to them with man. Now it was in the valley that is to Beth Rehob. And they built the city, and they dwelled in it. 29 And they called the name of the city Dan, by the name of their father Dan, who was born to Israel. However, Laish was the name of the city at the first. 30 And the sons of Dan raised up the idol for themselves. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danite until the day of the exile of the land. 31 So they set up for themselves the idol of Micah that he had made, all of the days of the being of the house of God at Shiloh.

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