Judg 17 | BSB | STEP | Now there was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah.

Judges 17

Micah's Idolatry

1 Now there was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred [shekels] ^{▼▼That is, about 27.5 pounds or 12.5 kilograms} of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse— I have the silver {here} with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!” 3 And when he had returned the eleven hundred [shekels] of silver to his mother, [she] said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.” 4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred [shekels] ^{▼▼That is, about 5 pounds or 2.27 kilograms} of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah. 5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and installed ^{▼▼Hebrew filled the hand of; also in verse 12} one of his sons to be his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did [what was] right in his own eyes. 7 And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been residing within the clan of Judah. 8 This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find [a place] . And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. 9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.” 10 “Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten [shekels] ^{▼▼That is, about 4 ounces or 114 grams} of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in 11 and agreed to stay with [him] , and the young man became like a son to Micah. 12 Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in [his] house. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”