1 I de dager var det ingen konge i Israel, og danittene lette etter et land som kunne bli deres hjem; for til da hadde de ikke fått noe område blant Israels stammer.

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.

2 Så sendte Dan-stammen ut fem sterke menn fra Sora og Esjtaol for å speide og utforske landet. De sa til dem: Gå og undersøk landet. De dro til Efraims fjellområde, til Mika hus, hvor de overnattet.

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.

3 Da de nærmet seg Mikas hus og hørte en kjent stemme tilhørende den unge levitten, gikk de bort fra veien til hans sted og spurte ham: Hvordan har du kommet hit, og hva gjør du her?

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?

4 Han svarte dem: Dette har Mika gjort for meg. Han har lønnet meg, og jeg er blitt hans prest.

And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest.

5 Da sa de: Kan du spørre Gud for oss, slik at vi får vite om vår reise vil lykkes?

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.

6 Presten sa til dem: Gå i fred, for Herren leder deres vei.

And the priest said to them, Go in peace: your way is guided by the Lord.

7 Så dro de fem videre til Laish og så folket der som levde trygt og uten bekymring, som sidonere, rolige og trygge. De hadde alt de trengte, og de holdt til langt fra sidonere og hadde ingen handel med Aram.

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.

8 Deretter vendte de tilbake til sine brødre i Sora og Esjtaol, og brødrene spurte dem: Hva har dere å fortelle?

So they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, What news have you?

9 De svarte: Kom, la oss dra mot Laish, for vi har sett at landet er veldig godt. Hvorfor nøler dere? Ikke vent med å innta landet som deres arv.

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.

10 Når dere kommer dit, vil dere treffe et folk som lever uten bekymring, og landet er romslig. Gud har gitt det i våre hender, et sted med alt mennesket trenger.

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.

11 Så dro seks hundre væpnede menn av Dan-stammen fra Sora og Esjtaol.

So six hundred men of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol went out armed with instruments of war.

12 De slo leir ved Kirjat-Jearim i Juda, og derfor kalles stedet Mahane-Dan til denne dag. Det ligger vest for Kirjat-Jearim.

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.

13 Fra der dro de videre til Efraims fjellområde og kom til Mikas hus.

From there they went on to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

14 Da sa de fem mennene som hadde utforsket Laish: Vet dere at det finnes en efod og husguder og et utskåret bilde og et støpt bilde i disse husene? Nå må dere vite hva dere skal gjøre.

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.

15 Da vendte de av veien og gikk til den unge levittens hus, til Mikas hus, og spurte ham: Hvordan står det til med deg?

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?

16 De seks hundre væpnede mennene av danittene stilte seg ved inngangen.

And the six hundred armed men of the Danites took their places by the doorway.

17 De fem mennene som hadde utforsket landet, gikk inn og tok det utskårne bildet, efoden, husgudene og det støpte bildet. Presten sto ved inngangen med de seks hundre væpnede mennene.

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.

18 Da de kom inn i Mikas hus og tok det utskårne bildet, efoden, husgudene og det støpte bildet, spurte presten dem: Hva gjør dere?

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?

19 De svarte: Tie stille og bli med oss, vær vår far og prest. Er det bedre for deg å være prest for én manns hus eller for en stamme og en slekt i Israel?

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?

20 Da ble prestens hjerte glad, og han tok efoden og husgudene og det utskårne bildet og gikk med folket.

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.

21 Så fortsatte de veien, mens de satte barna, buskapen og verdiene foran seg.

So they went on their way again, putting the little ones and the oxen and the goods in front of them.

22 Da de var et stykke fra Mikas hus, kom mennene fra husene nær Mikas hus etter danittene.

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,

23 De ropte til dem, og danittene snudde seg og sa til Mika: Hva er i veien siden du har bevæpnet deg?

Crying out to them. And the Danites, turning round, said to Micah, What is your trouble, that you have taken up arms?

24 Han svarte: Dere har tatt mine guder som jeg laget, og min prest, og dere har dratt av sted. Hva har jeg igjen nå? Hvorfor spør dere meg da: Hva er i veien?

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?

25 Da sa danittene til ham: Si ikke mer, ellers kan bitre menn angripe deg og koste deg livet og livet til dine folk.

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.

26 Da dro danittene videre, og da Mika så at de var sterkere enn han, vendte han tilbake til sitt hus.

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.

27 De tok det Mika hadde laget, og hans prest, og kom til Laish, til et folk som levde trygt og uten bekymring, og de hogget dem ned med sverdet og brente byen.

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.

28 De hadde ingen redningsmann, fordi byen lå langt fra Sidon og hadde ingen forbindelse med Aram. Byen lå i dalen som tilhørte Bet-Rehob. De bygde opp byen på nytt og gjorde den til sitt bosted.

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.

29 De ga byen navnet Dan, etter deres stamfar Dan, som var Isrels sønn. Byen het først Laish.

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.

30 (Dan-stammen reiste seg sitt eget bilde; og Jonatan, sønn av Gershom, sønn av Moses, og hans sønner, var prester for Dan-stammen fram til den dag arken ble bortført.)

(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.)

31 Og de satte opp for seg bildet som Mika hadde laget, og det sto der så lenge Guds hus var i Sjilo.

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.