Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Sing a New Song to the Lord

Micah Makes Idols and Hires a Priest

17 Micah^[a] belonged to the Ephraim tribe and lived in the hill country. ² One day he told his mother, “Do you remember those 1,100 pieces of silver^[b] that were stolen from you? I was there when you put a curse on whoever stole them. Well, I'm the one who did it.”

His mother answered, “I pray that the Lord will bless^[c] you, my son.”

^3-4 Micah returned the silver to his mother, and she said, “I give this silver to the Lord, so my son can use it to make an idol.” Turning to her son, she said, “Micah, now the silver belongs to you.”

But Micah handed it back to his mother. She took 200 pieces^[d] of the silver and gave them to a silver worker, who made them into an idol.^[e] They kept the idol in Micah's house. ⁵ He had a shrine for worshiping God there at his home, and he had made some idols and a sacred priestly vest. Micah chose one of his own sons to be the priest for his shrine.

^6 (A) This was before kings ruled Israel, so all the Israelites did whatever they thought was right.

⁹ I wrote to the church. But Diotrephes likes to be the number-one leader, and he won't pay any attention to us. ¹⁰ So if I come, I will remind him of how he has been attacking us with gossip. Not only has he been doing this, but he refuses to welcome any of the Lord's followers who come by. And when other church members want to welcome them, he puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Dear friend, don't imitate the evil deeds of others, but follow the example of people who do kind deeds. They are God's children, but those who are always doing evil have never seen God.

¹² Everyone speaks well of Demetrius, and so does the true message that he teaches. I also speak well of him, and you know what I say is true.