we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said to them : Go in peace; Jehovah beholdeth the journey whereon

ye go.

Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure. And there was no lack of any thing in the land; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no dealings with other men. And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol; and their brethren said to them : What say ye? And they said: Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good. Do ye doubt? Delay not to set forth and go and possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto an unguarded people, and a broad land. Surely God hath given it into your hand; a place where there is no lack of any thing that is in the earth.

And there set forth thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. And they went up, and encamped by the city of Jearim, in Judah, (and the place is called Camp of Dan unto this day). And they passed thence unto the hill country of Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah. Then spake the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said to their brethren: Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, both graven and molten images? therefore consider what ye will do.

Now

Then they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, the house of Micah, and saluted him. And the six hundred men of the children of Dan, girt with their weapons of war, stood by the entering of the gate. And the priest stood by the entering

of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war. And the five men that went to spy out the land went into Micah's house, and fetched the images. Then said the priest to them: What do ye? And they said to him Hold thy peace; lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven images, and went in the midst of the people. And they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them.

When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house gathered together, and followed after the children of Dan. And they cried unto the children of Dan. But they turned their faces, and said to Micah: What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company? And he said: Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away; and what have I more? How then say ye unto me, What aileth thee? And the children of Dan said to him: Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, and the lives of thy household. And the children of Dan went on their way. And Micah saw that they were too strong for him, and turned and went back unto his house. So they took that which Micah had made, and the priest which he had. And they came unto Laish, unto a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no dealings with other men ;

and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. Then they built the city, and dwelt therein. And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel; howbeit the name of the city aforetime was Laish. And the children of Dan set up the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

And the lot of the children of Zebulun went from Sarid westward to the river before Jokneam, and eastward to Chisloth-tabor, and northward to Hannathon and the valley of Iphtah-el. And Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.

And the lot of Issachar was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem, aud En-gannim (Fountain of Gardens). And its boundaries reached to Tabor, and the outgoings of its border were at Jordan.

And the border of the lot of the tribe of the children of Asher is Carmel on the southwest, and toward the east it reacheth to Zebulun, and the valley of Iphtah-el; then it goeth out past Cabul on the left hand, and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, unto great Zidon; and it turneth to Ramah, and the fortress of Tyre; and it turneth to Hosah, and the outgoings thereof are at the Mediterranean Sea, from Hebel to Achzib. But Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob. But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, and did not dispossess them,

MINGLING WITH THE HEATHEN. 163

And the lot of the children of Naphtali reached to Zebulun and to Issachar on the south side, and to Asher on the west side, and the outgoings thereof were at the Jordan. And among their fenced cities were Chinnereth, and Hazor, and Kedesh, and Beth-anath (House of Anat), and Beth-shemesh (House of the Sun). But Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless afterward the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.

Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them: five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Zidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon unto the territory of Hamath. And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and served the gods and goddesses of the nations among whom they dwelt, and bowed themselves down unto them and forsook Jehovah, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into. the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not stand before their enemies.

CHAPTER XVIII.

JUDGES, iii., xvii.

THE AGE OF ANARCHY-I.

EHUD, THE BENJAMITE.

IN those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah strengthened Eglon (Bullock) the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of Jehovah. And Eglon gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and took Jericho, the city of palm-trees. And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, he raised them up a saviour, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man.

Now the children of Israel sent tribute by the hand of Ehud unto Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made him a short, two-edged dagger, and girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh. And he brought the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab. And it came to pass after he had presented the tribute, he sent away the people that bare it; but he himself turned back after he had reached the outposts, saying: I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. Then the king commanded privacy; and all that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself