Judges 17

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

There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim, and his 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.”

He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you spoke a curse, and which I heard—look here! I have the silver with me. I stole it.” His mother said, “May Yahweh bless you, my son!”

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.”

He restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother and his mother said, “I set apart this silver to Yahweh, for my son to make carved and cast metal figures. So now, I restore it to you.”

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.

When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to a metal worker who made them into carved and cast metal figures, and they were placed 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;

The man Micah had a house of idols and he made an ephod and household gods, and he hired one of his sons to become 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, and everyone 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.

Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah, who was a Levite. He stayed there to fulfill his duties.

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.

The man left Bethlehem in Judah to go and find a place to live. As he journeyed, he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.

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.”

Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” The man said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am traveling to find a place where I might live.”

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].

Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your food.” So the Levite went into his house.

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

The Levite was content to live with the man, and the young man became to Micah like 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,

Micah set apart the Levite for sacred duties, and the young man became his priest, and was in Micah's house.

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 Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will do good for me, because this Levite has become my priest.”