Judges 17
King James Version
17 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
8 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.
9 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.
Judges 17
International Children’s Bible
Micah’s Idols
17 There was a man named Micah. He lived in the mountains of Ephraim. 2 He said to his mother, “You remember the 28 pounds of silver that were taken from you. I heard you say a curse about it. I have the silver with me. I took it.”
His mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”
3 Micah gave the 28 pounds of silver to his mother. Then she said, “I will give this silver to the Lord. I will have my son make a carved idol and an idol of melted silver. So I will give the silver back to you.”
4 So he gave the silver back to his mother. She took about 5 pounds of the silver and gave it to a silversmith. He used it to make a carved idol and an idol of melted silver. The idols were put in Micah’s house. 5 Micah had a temple for worshiping idols. He made a vest for a priest and some household idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest. 6 At that time the Israelites did not have a king. So everyone did what he thought was right.
7 There was a young man who was a Levite.[a] He was from the city of Bethlehem in the land of Judah. He had been living with the people of Judah. 8 He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live. On his way he came to Micah’s house. It was in the mountains of Ephraim. 9 Micah asked him, “Where have you come from?”
He answered, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m looking for a place to live.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me. Be my father and my priest. I will give you 4 ounces of silver each year. I will also give you clothes and food.” So the Levite went in. 11 The young Levite agreed to live with Micah. He became like one of Micah’s own sons. 12 Micah made him a priest. And he lived in Micah’s house. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know the Lord will be good to me. I know this because I have a Levite as my priest!”
Footnotes
- 17:7 Levite The Levites were the only ones God had appointed as priests.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
