Iudicum 17
1 Fuit eo tempore vir quidam de monte Ephraim nomine Michas,
In that time, there was a certain man, from mount Ephraim, named Micah.
2 qui dixit matri suæ: Mille et centum argenteos, quos separaveras tibi, et super quibus me audiente iuraveras, ecce ego habeo, et apud me sunt. Cui illa respondit: Benedictus filius meus Domino.
And he said to his mother, “The one thousand one hundred silver coins, which you had separated for yourself, and about which you had sworn in my hearing, behold, I have them, and they are with me.” And she answered him, “My son has been blessed by the Lord.”
3 Reddidit ergo eos matri suæ, quæ dixerat ei: Consecravi et vovi hoc argentum Domino, ut de manu mea suscipiat filius meus, et faciat sculptile atque conflatile: et nunc trado illud tibi.
Therefore, he restored them to his mother. And she said to him: “I have consecrated and vowed this silver to the Lord, so that my son would receive it from my hand, and would make a molten idol and a graven image. And now I deliver it to you.”
4 Reddidit igitur eos matri suæ: quæ tulit ducentos argenteos, et dedit eos argentario, ut faceret ex eis sculptile atque conflatile, quod fuit in domo Michæ.
And when he restored these to his mother, she took two hundred of the silver coins, and she gave them to the silversmith, so that he might make from them a molten idol and a graven image. And it was in the house of Micah.
5 Qui ædiculam quoque in ea Deo separavit, et fecit ephod, et theraphim, id est, vestem sacerdotalem, et idola: implevitque unius filiorum suorum manum, et factus est ei sacerdos.
And he also separated in it a little shrine for the god. And he made an ephod and theraphim, that is, a priestly garment and idols. And he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he became his priest.
6 In diebus illis non erat rex in Israel, sed unusquisque quod sibi rectum videbatur, hoc faciebat.
In those days, there was no king in Israel. Instead, each one did what seemed right to himself.
7 Fuit quoque alter adolescens de Bethlehem Iuda, ex cognatione eius: eratque ipse Levites, et habitabat ibi.
Also, there was another young man, from Bethlehem of Judah, one of his relatives. And he himself was a Levite, and he was living there.
8 Egressusque de civitate Bethlehem, peregrinari voluit ubicumque sibi commodum reperisset. Cumque venisset in montem Ephraim, iter faciens, et declinasset parumper in domum Michæ,
Then, departing from the city of Bethlehem, he wished to sojourn wherever he would find it beneficial to himself. And when he had arrived at mount Ephraim, while making the journey, he also turned aside for a little while to the house of Micah.
9 interrogatus est ab eo unde venisset. Qui respondit: Levita sum de Bethlehem Iuda, et vado ut habitem ubi potuero, et utile mihi esse perspexero.
And he was asked by him where he came from. And he responded: “I am a Levite from Bethlehem of Judah. And I am traveling so that I may live where I am able, if I perceive it to be useful to me.”
10 Dixitque Michas: Mane apud me, et esto mihi parens ac sacerdos: daboque tibi per annos singulos decem argenteos, ac vestem duplicem, et quæ ad victum sunt necessaria.
And Micah said: “Stay with me. And you shall be to me like a parent and a priest. And I will give to you, each year, ten silver coins, and a double-layered garment, and whatever provisions are necessary.”
11 Acquievit, et mansit apud hominem, fuitque illi quasi unus de filiis.
He agreed, and he stayed with the man. And he was to him like one of his sons.
12 implevitque Michas manum eius, et habuit puerum sacerdotem apud se,
And Micah filled his hand, and he had the young man with him as his priest,
13 Nunc scio, dicens, quod benefaciet mihi Deus habenti Levitici generis sacerdotem.
saying: “Now I know that God will be good to me, since I have a priest from the stock of the Levites.”
