1There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, and about which I heard you pronounce a curse—I have the silver with me; I took it.”
was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, and about which I heard you pronounce a curse—I have the silver with me; I took it.”
Then his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!”
3 Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I solemnly consecrate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will now give it back to you.”
4 So he returned the silver to his mother. And his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to a silversmith, and he made them into a carved image and a cast idol, and they were kept in the house of Micah.
5 This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
7 Now there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was living within the clan of Judah. 8 The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah in search of some other place to live. As he journeyed he came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?”
He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I can find a place.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your living.” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite agreed to stay with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.”