Judges 17

Micah Makes His Own Religion

17:1 There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country. 17:2 He said to his mother, “You know¹ the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen² from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole³ it, but now I am giving it back to you.”⁴ His mother said, “May the Lord reward⁵ you, my son!” 17:3 When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate⁶ 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.”⁷ 17:4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she⁸ took two hundred pieces of silver⁹ to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah’s house.¹⁰ 17:5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine.¹¹ He made an ephod¹² and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.¹³ 17:6 In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.¹⁴

Micah Hires a Professional

17:7 There was a young man from Bethlehem¹⁵ in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.¹⁶ 17:8 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.¹⁷ 17:9 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.”¹⁸ 17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser¹⁹ and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.”²⁰ 17:11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah.²¹ 17:12 Micah paid²² the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house. 17:13 Micah said, “Now I know God will make me rich,²³ because I have this Levite as my priest.”

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