Iudicum 17
1 Fuit eo tempore vir quidam de monte Ephraim nomine Michas,
There was a man named Micah who lived in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim live.
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.
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].”
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.
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].”
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.
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.
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.
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.
6 In diebus illis non erat rex in Israel, sed unusquisque quod sibi rectum videbatur, hoc faciebat.
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.
7 Fuit quoque alter adolescens de Bethlehem Iuda, ex cognatione eius: eratque ipse Levites, et habitabat ibi.
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.
8 Egressusque de civitate Bethlehem, peregrinari voluit ubicumque sibi commodum reperisset. Cumque venisset in montem Ephraim, iter faciens, et declinasset parumper in domum Michæ,
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.
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.
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].”
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.
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.”
11 Acquievit, et mansit apud hominem, fuitque illi quasi unus de filiis.
So the young man agreed to live with Micah. He became like one of Micah’s own sons.
12 implevitque Michas manum eius, et habuit puerum sacerdotem apud se,
Micah appointed him to be a priest, and he lived in Micah’s house.
13 Nunc scio, dicens, quod benefaciet mihi Deus habenti Levitici generis sacerdotem.
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.”
