< Judges 17 >
1 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, look, the silver is with me; I took it, but now I will restore it to you." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by YHWH."
3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I most certainly dedicate the silver to YHWH from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image."
4 When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
5 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.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there.
8 The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he traveled.
9 Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?" He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am going to settle wherever I may find a place."
10 Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of clothing, and your food." So the Levite went in.
11 The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.
12 Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that YHWH will do good to me, seeing I have a Levite as my priest."