Judges 17

1 Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

There was a man named Micah who lived in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim live.

2 And he said unto his mother: 'The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.' And his mother said: 'Blessed be my son of the LORD.'

One day he said to his mother, “I heard you curse whoever stole (1,100 pieces/28 pounds/13 kg.) of silver from your house. I am the one who took the silver, and I still have it.” His mother replied, “My son, I pray that Yahweh will bless you [for admitting that you took it].”

3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said: 'I verily dedicate the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it unto thee.'

Micah gave all the silver back to his mother. Then she said [to herself], “I will give [some of] this silver to Yahweh.” And she said to her son, “My son, I want you to make an idol and a statue [from this silver]. So I will give [some of] this silver back to you [for making these things].”

4 And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image; and it was in the house of Micah.

So when he gave all the silver to his mother, she took (200 pieces/about 5 pounds/1.6 kg.) of it to a (silversmith/man who made things from silver). With the silver that man made an idol and a statue, [and gave them to Micah]. Micah put them in his house.

5 And the man Micah had a house of God, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

He had in his house a special (shrine/place for putting sacred things). He made a sacred vest and some small idols [and put them in this shrine along with the big idol and the statue]. Then Micah chose one of his sons to become his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

At that time, the Israeli people did not have a king. So [Micah and everyone else] did whatever they considered to be the right thing to do.

7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem in Judah — in the family of Judah — who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

There was a young man who had been living in Bethlehem in the area where the tribe of Judah lives. He [wanted to work as a priest because he] was a member of the tribe of Levi.

8 And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem in Judah, to sojourn where he could find a place; and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

So he left Bethlehem to find another place to live [and work]. He came to Micah’s house in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim live.

9 And Micah said unto him: 'Whence comest thou?' And he said unto him: 'I am a Levite of Beth-lehem in Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.'

Micah asked him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I come from Bethlehem. I am from the tribe of Levi, and I am looking for a place to live [and work as a priest].”

10 And Micah said unto him: 'Dwell with me, and be unto 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 victuals.' So the Levite went in.

Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and you can become like a father [to counsel me], and be my priest. Each year I will give to you ten pieces of silver and some [new] clothes. And I will provide food for you.”

11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.

So the young man agreed to live with Micah. He became like one of Micah’s own sons.

12 And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

Micah appointed him to be a priest, and he lived in Micah’s house.

13 Then said Micah: 'Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite as my priest.'

Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will do good things for me, because I have a man from the tribe of Levi to be my priest.”