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17 And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah,

and he saith to his mother, `The eleven hundred silverlings which have been taken of thine, and [of which] thou hast sworn, and also spoken in mine ears; lo, the silver [is] with me, I have taken it;' and his mother saith, `Blessed [is] my son of Jehovah.'

And he giveth back the eleven hundred silverlings to his mother, and his mother saith, `I had certainly sanctified the silver to Jehovah, from my hand, for my son, to make a graven image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to thee.'

And he giveth back the money to his mother, and his mother taketh two hundred silverlings, and giveth them to a refiner, and he maketh them a graven image, and a molten image, and it is in the house of Micah.

As to the man Micah, he hath a house of gods, and he maketh an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrateth the hand of one of his sons, and he is to him for a priest;

in those days there is no king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth.

And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a sojourner there.

And the man goeth out of the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he doth find, and cometh to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, to work his way.

And Micah saith to him, `Whence comest thou?' and he saith unto him, `A Levite [am] I, of Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I do find.'

10 And Micah saith to him, `Dwell with me, and be to me for a father and for a priest, and I give to thee ten silverlings for the days, and a suit of garments, and thy sustenance;' and the Levite goeth [in].

11 And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons.

12 And Micah consecrateth the hand of the Levite, and the young man is to him for a priest, and he is in the house of Micah,

13 and Micah saith, `Now I have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a priest.'

Micah’s Idols

17 Now a man named Micah(A) from the hill country of Ephraim said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels[a] of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you,(B) my son!”

When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.(C) I will give it back to you.”

So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels[b] of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol.(D) And it was put in Micah’s house.

Now this man Micah had a shrine,(E) and he made an ephod(F) and some household gods(G) and installed(H) one of his sons as his priest.(I) In those days Israel had no king;(J) everyone did as they saw fit.(K)

A young Levite(L) from Bethlehem in Judah,(M) who had been living within the clan of Judah, left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way[c] he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,(N)” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father(O) and priest,(P) and I’ll give you ten shekels[d] of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installed(Q) the Levite, and the young man became his priest(R) and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”(S)

Footnotes

  1. Judges 17:2 That is, about 28 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Judges 17:4 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms
  3. Judges 17:8 Or To carry on his profession
  4. Judges 17:10 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams

17 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son.

And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, 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 shekels 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 the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.