| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. | 1There was a man named Micah from the Ephraimite hill country. |
| 2One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.” “The LORD bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. | 2He said to his mother, "You know the eleven hundred pieces of silver which were stolen from you, about which I heard you pronounce a curse? Look here, I have the silver. I stole it, but now I am giving it back to you." His mother said, "May the LORD reward you, my son!" |
| 3He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” | 3When he gave back to his mother the eleven hundred pieces of silver, his mother said, "I solemnly dedicate this silver to the LORD. It will be for my son's benefit. We will use it to make a carved image and a metal image." |
| 4So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. | 4When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver to a silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a metal image. She then put them in Micah's house. |
| 5Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest. | 5Now this man Micah owned a shrine. He made an ephod and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest. |
| 6In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. | 6In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. |
| 7One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area. | 7There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah. |
| 8He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through. | 8This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah's house. |
| 9“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.” | 9Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" He replied, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live." |
| 10“Stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food.” | 10Micah said to him, "Stay with me. Become my adviser and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food." |
| 11The Levite agreed to this, and the young man became like one of Micah’s sons. | 11So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah. |
| 12So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. | 12Micah paid the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah's house. |
| 13“I know the LORD will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.” | 13Micah said, "Now I know God will make me rich, because I have this Levite as my priest." |
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