Judges 17:1-10 ▼

1 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah.

2 He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on—here’s the silver. I took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, may you be blessed by the LORD! ”

3 He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I personally consecrate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol. I will give it back to you.”

4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah’s house.

5 This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

7 There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.

8 The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 “Where do you come from? ” Micah asked him. He answered him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay wherever I can find a place.”

10 Micah replied, “Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions.” So the Levite went in