Judges 17

1 A man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah,

2 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!”

and he says to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which have been taken of yours, and [of which] you have sworn, and also spoken in my ears; behold, the silver [is] with me, I have taken it”; and his mother says, “Blessed [is] my son of YHWH.”

3 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.”

And he gives back the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother says, “I had certainly sanctified the silver to YHWH, from my hand, for my son, to make a carved image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to you.”

4 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.

And he gives back the money to his mother, and his mother takes two hundred pieces of silver, and gives them to a refiner, and he makes them a carved image, and a molten image, and it is in the house of Micah.

5 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.

As for the man Micah, he has a house of gods, and he makes an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrates the hand of one of his sons, and he is for a priest to him;

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

in those days there is no king in Israel, each does that which is right in his own eyes.

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

And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a sojourner there.

8 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.

And the man goes out of the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he finds, and comes to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, to work his way.

9 “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.”

And Micah says to him, “Where do you come from?” And he says to him, “I [am] a Levite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I find.”

10 “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

And Micah says to him, “Dwell with me, and be for a father and for a priest to me, and I give ten pieces of silver to you for the days, and a suit of garments, and your sustenance”; and the Levite goes [in].

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

And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons.

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

And Micah consecrates the hand of the Levite, and the young man is for a priest to him, and he is in the house of Micah,

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

and Micah says, “Now I have known that YHWH does good to me, for the Levite has been for a priest to me.”