Judges 17
New American Standard Bible
Micah’s Idolatry
17 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son (A)to make a carved image and a cast metal image; so now I will return [a]them to you.” 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made [b]them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and [c]they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a [d](B)shrine and he made an (C)ephod and [e](D)household idols, and [f]consecrated one of his sons, (E)so that he might become his priest. 6 In those days (F)there was no king in Israel; (G)everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
7 Now there was a young man from (H)Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was [g]staying there. 8 Then the man left the city, Bethlehem in Judah, to [h]stay wherever he would find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the (I)hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to [i]stay wherever I may find a place.” 10 Micah then said to him, “Stay with me and be (J)a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 So Micah [j]consecrated the Levite, and the young man (K)became his priest and [k]lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.”
Footnotes
- Judges 17:3 Lit it
- Judges 17:4 Lit it
- Judges 17:4 Lit it was
- Judges 17:5 Lit house of gods
- Judges 17:5 Heb teraphim
- Judges 17:5 Lit filled the hand of
- Judges 17:7 Or sojourning
- Judges 17:8 Or sojourn
- Judges 17:9 Or sojourn
- Judges 17:12 Lit filled the hand of
- Judges 17:12 Lit was
Judges 17
Common English Bible
Micah’s sanctuary and the Levite priest
17 Once there was a man named Micah who lived in the Ephraim highlands. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you led you to declare a curse and even to repeat it when I could hear. I have that silver. I’m the one who took it, and now I’ll give it back to you.”[a]
His mother replied, “May the Lord bless you, my son!” 3 When he gave the eleven hundred pieces of silver back to his mother, she said, “I wholeheartedly devote this silver to the Lord, to be made into a sculpted image and a molded image for my son.” 4 So he gave the silver back to his mother, and she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used it for a sculpted image and a molded image. And they were placed in Micah’s house. 5 This man Micah had his own sanctuary.[b] He made a priestly vest[c] and divine images[d] and appointed one of his sons to be his personal priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; each person did what they thought to be right.
7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the area of the Judahite clan. He was a Levite residing there as an immigrant. 8 The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to settle as an immigrant wherever he could find a place. He came to Micah’s house in the Ephraim highlands while he was making his way.[e]
9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him.
He replied, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m looking to settle as an immigrant anywhere I can find a place.”
10 So Micah said to him, “Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I’ll give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your basic needs.”[f] 11 The Levite agreed to stay with him; and the young man became like one of his own sons. 12 Micah appointed the Levite so that the young man became his personal priest and lived in Micah’s sanctuary. 13 And Micah said to himself, Now I know that the Lord will give me good things, because a Levite has become my priest.
Footnotes
- Judges 17:2 The words and now I’ll give it back to you are relocated from the end of 17:3 in Heb.
- Judges 17:5 Or god’s house
- Judges 17:5 Heb ephod
- Judges 17:5 Heb terafim
- Judges 17:8 Or to carry on his work
- Judges 17:10 Heb adds and the Levite went.
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