Judges 17

1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim named Micah.

2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”

And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you took an oath and said in my hearing, I have given this silver to the Lord from my hand for myself, to make a pictured image and a metal image: see, I have the silver, for I took it: so now I will give it back to you. And his mother said, May the blessing of the Lord be on my son.

3 And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”

And he gave back the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, and his mother said, I have made the silver holy to the Lord from me for my son, to make a pictured image and a metal image.

4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.

So he gave the silver back to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a metal-worker who made a pictured image and a metal image from them: and it was in the house of Micah.

5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.

7 And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah.

Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place.

8 This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

And he went away from the town of Beth-lehem-judah, looking for somewhere to make his living-place; and on his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.

9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”

And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah, and I am looking for a living-place.

10 “Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in

Then Micah said to him, Make your living-place with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year and your clothing and food.

11 and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.

And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons.

12 Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.

And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.