Judges 17
1 Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim named Micah.
And there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose, name, was Micah.
2 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.
And he said unto his mother—The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken by thee, when, thou, didst utter a curse, and didst also say in my hearing, Lo! the silver, is with me! I took it. Then said his mother, Blessed, be my son by Yahweh.
3 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.
And, when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said—I had, hallowed, the silver unto Yahweh out of mine own hand, for my son, to make a graved (molten) image, now, therefore, I will restore it unto thee.
4 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.
But he restored the silver to his mother, —so his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made thereof a graved (molten) image, and it was in the house of Micah.
5 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.
Now, the man Micah, had a house of gods, —and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.
In those days, there was no king in Israel, —every man did, that which was right in his own eyes.
7 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.
And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah, of the family of Judah, —he, being a Levite, and, he, being a sojourner there.
8 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.
So the man took his journey out of the city, out of Bethlehem-judah, to sojourn, wheresoever he could find [a home], —and he came into the hill country of Ephraim, as far as the house of Micah, in pursuing his journey.
9 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.
And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him—A Levite, am I, from Bethlehem-judah, and, I, am taking my journey to sojourn, wheresoever I can find [a home].
10 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.
And Micah said unto him—Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and, I, will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy sustenance. So the Levite went.
11 And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons.
And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, —and the young man became to him, as one of his sons.
12 And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
And Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest, —and remained in the house of Micah.
13 Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.
Then said Micah—Now, I know that Yahweh will do me good, —seeing I have a Levite as my priest.
