Judges 17

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

A man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

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!”

told his mother, “Those eleven hundred shekels of silver that were stolen from you and that I heard you curse—I've got the silver. I was the one who took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, the Lord bless you!”

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.”

He gave back to his mother the eleven hundred shekels of silver. His mother announced, “I'm completely dedicating this money to the Lord. I'm handing it over to my son to have an idol carved, an image made with molten silver. So now I return it to you.”

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.

After he'd returned the silver to his mother she gave two hundred shekels to a silversmith who made it into a carved idol, an image made with molten silver. They were kept in Micah's house.

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.

Micah had built a shrine for the idol. He also made an ephod and some household gods, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

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

At that time Israel didn't have a king— everyone did what they themselves thought was the right thing to do.

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

One young man, a Levite from the tribe of Judah had been living in Bethlehem in Judah,

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.

left Bethlehem to look for a different place to live. As he traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, he came to Micah's house.

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.”

“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man replied. “I'm looking for a place to live.”

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

“Come and stay here with me. You can be my ‘father’ and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, plus your clothes and food.” So the Levite went inside

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

and agreed to stay with him. The young man became like a son to him.

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

Micah ordained the Levite as his own priest and he lived in Micah's house.

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

“I'm sure the Lord will bless me now, because I have a Levite as my priest,” Micah concluded.