Judges 17

1 And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah.3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.4 And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.5 And the man Micah had a house of gods, 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 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.8 And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.12 And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.13 Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Judges 17

Micah Makes His Own Religion

1 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country.2 He said to his mother, “You knowt the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolent from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stolet it, but now I am giving it back to you.”t His mother said, “May the Lord rewardt you, my son!”3 When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicatet this silver to the Lord. It will be for my son’s benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image.”t4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, shet took two hundred pieces of silvert to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house.t5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine.t He made an ephods and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.t

6 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.t

Micah Hires a Professional

7 There was a young man from Bethlehems in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.t8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house.t9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.”t10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my advisert and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.”t11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah.t12 Micah paidt the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.

13 Micah said, “Now I know God will make me rich,t because I have this Levite as my priest.”