Judges 18:17-20

18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole ¹  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. ²  18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole ³  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 ⁴  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ⁵  18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. ⁶ 

[18:17]  ¹ tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

[18:17]  ² tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

[18:18]  ³ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

[18:19]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ⁶ 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?”

[18:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”