Judges 17

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

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

2 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].”

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 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].”

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 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.

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 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.

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, the Israeli people did not have a king. So [Micah and everyone else] did whatever they considered to be 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 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.

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 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.

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 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].”

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 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.”

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

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

12 Micah appointed him to be a 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 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.”

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