Judges 17:1-8 ▼

1 There was a man named Micah from the mountain region of Ephraim.

2 He told his mother, |You were upset about the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you. I even heard you put a curse on them. Here's the silver. I took it!| His mother said, |The LORD bless you, my son!|

3 So Micah gave the 1,100 pieces of silver back to his mother. Then his mother said, |I dedicate this silver to the LORD for my son's benefit. I want to make a carved idol and a metal idol. So now I'm giving the silver back to you.|

4 When Micah returned the silver to his mother, she took 200 pieces of the silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made a carved idol and a metal idol. Both were placed in Micah's home.

5 Micah owned a shrine. He also made an ephod and household idols. He ordained one of his sons to be his priest.

6 In those days Israel didn't have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.

7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. (Bethlehem belongs to the family of Judah.) He was a Levite but was living in Bethlehem.

8 This man left Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could find [a place]. He came to Micah's house in the mountains of Ephraim to carry on his work.