Judges 18:14-20

18:14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish ¹  said to their kinsmen, ²  “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.” 18:15 They stopped ³  there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), ⁴  and asked him how he was doing. ⁵  18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. ⁶  18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole ⁷  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men. ⁸  18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ⁹  the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ¹⁰  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ¹¹  18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. ¹² 

¹ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”

² tn Heb “brothers.”

³ tn Heb “turned aside.”

⁴ tn Heb “Micah’s house.”

⁵ tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”

⁵ tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

⁷ tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

⁸ tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

⁹ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

¹¹ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

¹² tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

¹³ tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”