And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.
Parallel translations
- WEB The priest said to them, “Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before Yahweh.”
- BSB And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.”
- NKJV And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the Lord be with you on your way.”
- NASB And the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the Lord’s approval.”
- NLT “Go in peace,” the priest replied. “For the Lord is watching over your journey.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The priest tells them to go in peace, assuring them their way is approved by Yahweh. He gives confident counsel from a corrupt shrine.
Overview
The Levite delivers a favorable oracle, but his authority and his shrine are both illegitimate, leaving the reliability of his word in doubt. The narrative presents this approval without endorsing it, letting the reader weigh a blessing pronounced amid idolatry. The scene underscores how easily false religion offers reassurance, and how Israel, lacking a faithful king and true worship, drifts by such empty guidance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Kgs 22:6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
- Jer 23:21–22I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
- 1 Th 3:11Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
- 1 Kgs 22:12And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.
- Jer 23:32Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 22:15So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
- Ps 33:18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
- Deut 11:12A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 18:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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