The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel.
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8 In those days there was no melech in Yisroel; and in those days the shevet (tribe) of the Dani sought them a nachalah to dwell in; for unto that day none had fallen for him [Dan] among the Shivtei Yisroel.
2 So the children of Dan sent five men from among their number, strong men, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to take a look at the land and make a search through it; and they said to them, Go and make a search through the land; and they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, where they made a stop for the night.
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And the Bnei Dan sent of their mishpakhat five anashim out of their whole number, anashim, Bnei Chayil, from Tzorah, and from Eshta’ol, to spy out the land, and to explore it; and they said unto them, Go, explore the land; and when they came to har Ephrayim, to the bais Mikhay’hu, they lodged there.
3 When they were near the house of Micah, hearing a voice which was not strange to them, that of the young Levite, they went out of their road to his place, and said to him, How did you come here? and what are you doing in this place? and why are you here?
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When they were at the bais Mikhah, they recognized the voice of the na’ar the Levi; so they turned in there, and said unto him, Who brought thee here? And what doth thou in this place? And what is thy business here?
4 And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest.
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And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Mikhah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his kohen.
5 Then they said, Do get directions from God for us, to see if the journey on which we are going will have a good outcome.
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And they said unto him, Ask counsel of Elohim, that we may have da’as of whether our derech shall succeed.
6 And the priest said to them, Go in peace: your way is guided by the Lord.
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And the kohen said unto them, Go in shalom; your derech wherein ye go is nokhach Hashem (straight in the sight of Hashem).
7 Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram.
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Then the five anashim departed, and came to Layish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the mishpat of the Tzidonim, quiet and unsuspecting; and there was no one in authority in the land, that might put them to shame for anything; but they were far from the Tzidonim, and had no ties with adam.
8 So they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, What news have you?
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And they returned unto their achim to Tzorah and Eshta’ol; and their achim said unto them, Mah atem (What do you [report]?)
9 And they said, Up! and let us go against Laish; for we have seen the land, and it is very good: why are you doing nothing? Do not be slow to go in and take the land for your heritage.
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And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them; for we have seen ha’aretz, and, hinei, it is tovah me’od; and will ye do nothing? Be not slothful to go, but enter in to possess ha’aretz.
10 When you come there you will come to a people living without thought of danger; and the land is wide, and God has given it into your hands: a place where there is everything on earth for man's needs.
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When ye go, ye shall come unto an Am bote’ach (unsuspecting people), and to ha’aretz rachavat; for Elohim hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no lack of any thing that is in ha’aretz.
11 So six hundred men of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol went out armed with instruments of war.
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And there went from thence of the mishpakhat HaDani, out of Tzorah and out of Eshta’ol, 600 men armed with keli milchamah.
12 And they went up and put up their tents in Kiriath-jearim in Judah: so that place is named Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is to the west of Kiriath-jearim.
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And they went up, and encamped in Kiryat-Yearim, in Yehudah; wherefore they called that place Machaneh Dan unto this day; hinei, it is behind Kiryat-Yearim.
13 From there they went on to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
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And they passed thence unto har Ephrayim, and came unto the bais Mikhah.
14 Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the country of Laish, said to their brothers, Have you knowledge that in these houses there is an ephod and family gods and a pictured image and a metal image? So now you see what to do.
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Then answered the five anashim that went to spy out ha’aretz Layish, and said unto their achim, Do ye know that there is in these batim ephod, teraphim, pesel, and maskhah? Now therefore consider what ye have to do.
15 And turning from their road they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and said to him, Is it well with you?
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And they turned thitherward, and came to the bais hana’ar haLevi, even unto the bais Mikhah, and gave him a shalom greeting.
16 And the six hundred armed men of the Danites took their places by the doorway.
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And the 600 men armed with their keli milchamah, which were of the Bnei Dan, stood by the petach hasha’ar.
17 Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the land, went in and took the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image; and the priest was by the doorway with the six hundred armed men.
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And the five anashim that went to spy out ha’aretz went up, and came in thither, and took the pesel, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the masekhah; and the kohen stood in the petach hasha’ar with the 600 men that were armed with keli milchamah.
18 And when they went into Micah's house and took out the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image, the priest said to them, What are you doing?
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And these went into bais Mikhah, and fetched the pesel, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the masakhah. Then said the kohen unto them, What are ye doing?
19 And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?
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And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine yad upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be to us an av and a kohen; is it better for thee to be a kohen unto the bais ish echad, or that thou be a kohen unto a shevet and a mishpakhat in Yisroel?
20 Then the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the family gods and the pictured image and went with the people.
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And the lev hakohen was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the pesel, and went in the midst of the people.
21 So they went on their way again, putting the little ones and the oxen and the goods in front of them.
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So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the mikneh and the belongings in front of them.
22 When they had gone some way from the house of Micah, the men from the houses near Micah's house came together and overtook the children of Dan,
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And when they were a good way from the bais Mikhah, the men that were in the batim (houses) near to bais Mikhah were gathered together, and overtook the Bnei Dan.
23 Crying out to them. And the Danites, turning round, said to Micah, What is your trouble, that you have taken up arms?
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And they cried unto the Bnei Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Mikhah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
24 And he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and my priest, and have gone away; what is there for me now? Why then do you say to me, What is your trouble?
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And he said, Ye have taken away my g-ds which I made, and the kohen, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? And what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
25 And the children of Dan said to him, Say no more, or men of bitter spirit may make an attack on you, causing loss of your life and the lives of your people.
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And the Bnei Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry anashim run upon thee, and thou lose thy nefesh, with the nefesh of thy household.
26 Then the children of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he went back to his house.
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And the Bnei Dan went their way; and when Mikhah saw that they were chazakim, too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his bais [T.N. By now we are seeing the point of the story, which is how Dan became infected with apostate religion; see their omission Rev chp 7].
27 And they took that which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people living quietly and without thought of danger, and they put them to the sword without mercy, burning down their town.
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And they took the things which Mikhah had made, and the kohen which he had, and came unto Layish unto a people that were peaceful and unsuspecting and they struck them with the edge of the cherev, and burnt the ir with eish.
28 And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place.
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And there was no matzil (deliverer, rescuer), because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no tie with adam (any man); and it was in the valley that lieth near Beit-Rechov. And they built an ir, and dwelt therein.
29 And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first.
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And they called the shem of the Ir Dan, after the shem of Dan their av, who was born unto Yisroel; howbeit the shem of the Ir was Layish previously.
30 (And the children of Dan put up the pictured image for themselves; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites till the day when the ark was taken prisoner.)
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And the Bnei Dan set up the pesel; and Y’honatan ben Gershom ben Menasheh, he and his banim were kohanim to the shevet haDani until the yom Golus HaAretz [722 B.C.E.].
31 And they put up for themselves the image which Micah had made, and it was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
31
During all the time that the Bais HaElohim was in Shiloh they set up for them pesel Mikhah, which he made.
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The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.