Textus Receptus Bibles
Matthew's Bible 1537
| 18:1 | In those dayes there was no Kynge in Israell. And in those dayes the trybe of Dan sought them an enheritaunce to dwell in, for vnto that tyme there fell none enheritaunce vnto them amonge the tribe of Israel. |
| 18:2 | And the children of Dan sent of their kynredes fyue men of actiuite, oute of their coastes, euen out of Zaraah and Esthaol, to vewe the lande and searche it out, and sayd vnto them: go & searche out the lande. And they came to mount Ephraim, euen to the house of Micah & lodged there. |
| 18:3 | And when they were come vnto the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Leuite, & turned in thether, and sayde vnto hym: who brought the hether? and what makest thou in this place? & what hast thou here. |
| 18:4 | And he said vnto them thus and thus dealeth Micah wyth me, and hath hyred me to be his priest. |
| 18:5 | And they sayd vnto him: Aske of God I praye the, that we maye know, whether the way which we go, shalbe prosperous or no. |
| 18:6 | And the priest sayde vnto them: go in peace, for the waye whyche ye go is before the Lorde. |
| 18:7 | Then the fyue men departed and came to Lais, and sawe the people that were therin, how they dwelt carelesse, and after the maner of the Sidons, stylle, and without castyng of parelles, & that no man made any trouble in the lande or vsurped any dominion, and how they were farre from the Sidons, and had no busines wyth any nacion. |
| 18:8 | And they came vnto their brethren, to Zaraah, & Esthaol. And their brethren sayde vnto them: what tydynges bring you? |
| 18:9 | And they said: vp and let vs go vnto them, for we haue sene the lande, that it is verye good. Haste therfore and be not slouthfull to departe, and to go & conquere the land. |
| 18:10 | When ye be come, ye shall come vnto a people that casteth no parelles, and vnto a large countrey: for God hath geuen into youre handes a place, wherin is no lacke of any thinge that is in the worlde. |
| 18:11 | And there departed thence of the kynrede of the Dannites, out of Zaraah and Esthaol sixe hundred men apoynted wyth instrumentes of warre. |
| 18:12 | And they wente and pytched in Kariath Iarim in Iuda. Wherfore the place is called Mahanah Dan vnto thys daye, whyche is on the backsyde of Kariath Iarim. |
| 18:13 | And they went thence vnto mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah. |
| 18:14 | Then answered the fyue men that wente to spye oute the countreye of Lais, and sayd vnto their brethren: wot ye not that there is in these houses an Ephod and Images, and a grauen Image of metall? Nowe therfore consydre what ye haue to do. |
| 18:15 | And they turned thetherwarde and came to the house of the younge man the Leuite in the house of Micah, and saluted him peasably. |
| 18:16 | And the sixe hundred men gyrded wyth wepons of warre, whiche were of the chyldren of Dan stode in the enterynge of the gate. |
| 18:17 | And the fyue men that wente to spye out the land, wente in thether & toke the kerued Image, and the Ephod the kerued Image, and the Image of metal. And the priest stode in the enteringe of the gate with the syxe hundred men that were armed vnto battel, |
| 18:18 | while the other went to Micahs house, and fet the kerued Image, the Ephod, the kerued Image and the Image of metall. Then said the priest vnto them: what do ye? |
| 18:19 | and they answered hym, holde thy peace, and put thyne hande vpon thy mouth, and come wyth vs, and be vnto vs a father and a prieste, whether is it better for the to be a prieste vnto the house of one man, or to be prieste vnto a trybe or a kynred in Israell? |
| 18:20 | And the preste was glad, and toke the Ephod and the Images, and the grauen Image, and wente wyth the people. |
| 18:21 | And they turned and departed, and put the chyldren, the catel and their costlye thynges before them. |
| 18:22 | When they were a good waye from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses that were by Micahs house, made an outcrye, and folowed after the children of Dan & called vnto them. |
| 18:23 | And they turned their faces & sayde vnto Micah, what ayleth the, that thou makeste an outcrye: |
| 18:24 | And he sayde, ye haue taken away my Goddes which I made and also the priest, and go youre wayes with them: And what haue I more, how then saye ye vnto me, what ayleth the? |
| 18:25 | And the chyldren of Dan sayde vnto him, let not thy voyce be heard among vs, leste angrye felowes runne vpon the, and thou lose thy lyfe, wyth the lyues of al thyne housholde to. |
| 18:26 | And so the chyldren of Dan went their wayes. And when Micah sawe that they were to stronge for hym, he turned & wente backe vnto his house agayne. |
| 18:27 | And they toke the thinges whiche Micah had made, and the prieste whiche he had, and went vnto Lais, euen vnto a people that were at reast and without mistruste, and smote them wyth the edge of the swerde, and burnte the cytye wyth fyre. |
| 18:28 | And there was no man to helpe, because it was farre from Sydon, and they had no medelynge wyth anye other nacyon. And the cytye stode in the valeye that lye by Bethrehob. And they builte the cytye and dwelt therin. |
| 18:29 | And called it Dan, after the name of Dan their father, whyche was borne vnto Israell. Howe be it in very deade the name of the cytye was Lays at the begynninge. |
| 18:30 | And the chyldren of Dan, set them vp the grauen Image. And Ionathan the sonne of Gerson, the sonne of Manasses & his sonnes were the priestes vnto the tribe of the Danites, vntyl they were caried awaye oute of the lande captiue. |
| 18:31 | And they set them vp the kerued Image which Micah made, al the whyle the house of God was in Siloh. |
Matthew's Bible 1537
The Matthew Bible, also known as Matthew's Version, was first published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". It combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as he had been able to translate before being captured and put to death, with the translations of Myles Coverdale as to the balance of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, except the Apocryphal Prayer of Manasses. It is thus a vital link in the main sequence of English Bible translations.