Judges 18
Open in the reader1In those days there was no king in Strives-with-God, and the tribe of the Judge-people was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Strives-with-God.
2So the children of Judge sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Hornet and Place-of-Asking, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Double-Fruit and came to the house of Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is, where they spent the night.
3And while they were near Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Joined-One; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”
4“Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.”
5Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to determine whether we will have a successful journey.”
6And the priest told them, “Go in peace. He-Who-Is is watching over your journey.”
7So the five men departed and came to Lion, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Fishery-Ones, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Fishery-Ones and had no alliance with anyone.
8When the men returned to Hornet and Place-of-Asking, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”
9They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!
10When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has delivered it into your hand. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”
11So six hundred Judge-people departed from Hornet and Place-of-Asking, armed with weapons of war.
12They went up and camped at City-of-Forests in Praised. That is why the place west of City-of-Forests is called Camp-of-Dan to this day.
13And from there they traveled to the hill country of Double-Fruit and came to Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s house.
14Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Lion said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”
15So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Joined-One, the house of Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is, and greeted him.
16The six hundred children of Judge stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war.
17And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.
18When they entered Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19“Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Strives-with-God?”
20So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people.
21Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed.
22After they were some distance from Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s house, the men in the houses near Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s house mobilized and overtook the children of Judge.
23When they called out after them, the children of Judge turned to face them and said to Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”
24He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
25The children of Judge said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”
26So the children of Judge went on their way, and Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.
27After they had taken Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s idols and his priest, they went to Lion, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.
28There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near House-of-the-Broad-Place. And the Judge-people rebuilt the city and lived there.
29They named it Judge, after their forefather Judge, who was born to Strives-with-God—though the city was formerly named Lion.
30The children of Judge set up idols for themselves, and He-Who-Is-Has-Given son of Sojourner-There, the son of Causing-to-Forget, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Judge until the day of the captivity of the land.
31So they set up for themselves Who-Is-Like-He-Who-Is’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.