< Judges 17 >

1 And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah,
And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 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.”
And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred silver-pieces that were taken from thee, and about which thou didst curse and speak of in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah!
3 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.”
And he restored the eleven hundred silver-pieces to his mother; and his mother said, I had dedicated the silver to Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; and now I will restore it to thee.
4 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.
Now he restored the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred silver-pieces and gave them to the founder, and he made of them a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah.
5 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;
And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
6 in those days there is no king in Israel, each does that which is right in his own eyes.
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
7 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.
And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-Judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
8 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.
And the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn where he might find [a place]. And as he journeyed, he came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah.
9 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.”
And Micah said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find [a place].
10 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].
And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give thee yearly ten silver-pieces, and a suit of garments, and thy victuals. And the Levite went in.
11 And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons.
And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.
12 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,
And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
13 and Micah says, “Now I have known that YHWH does good to me, for the Levite has been for a priest to me.”
Then said Micah, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, because I have the Levite for priest.

< Judges 17 >