Judges 17

Micah and the Levite

1 There was a man of *ver. 8;ch. 18:2;See Josh. 24:33the 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 ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, *Ruth 3:10;1 Sam. 15:13"Blessed be my son by the Lord." 3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, "I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make *[Ex. 20:4] a carved image and *[Lev. 19:4]a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you." 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother *[Isa. 46:6]took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made *ch. 8:27;18:14,17;See Ex. 28:6-35an ephod and *[Gen. 31:19;Hos. 3:4] household gods, and *ver. 12;[1 Kgs. 13:33]ordained*17:5 Hebrew filled the hand of; also verse 12 one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 *ch. 18:1;19:1;21:25In those days there was no king in Israel. *[Deut. 12:8]Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man of *ch. 19:1;Ruth 1:1,2;Mic. 5:2;Matt. 2:1,5,6Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to *See Josh. 24:33the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place." 10 And Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me *ch. 18:19a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living." And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite *[Ex. 2:21]was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 And Micah *ver. 5ordained the Levite, and the young man *[ch. 18:30]became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."