1Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim[ † ]Judges 18:2
2said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels 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!”[ † ]Leviticus 5:1Genesis 14:19
3And 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.”[ † ]Exodus 20:4-23Exodus 34:17Leviticus 19:4
4So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels 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.[ † ]Isaiah 46:6
5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.[ † ]Judges 18:24Judges 8:27Judges 18:14Genesis 31:19-30Hosea 3:4 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.[ † ]Judges 18:1Judges 19:1Deuteronomy 12:8Judges 21:25
7And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah.[ † ]Joshua 19:15Judges 19:1Ruth 1:1-2Micah 5:2Matthew 2:1-5, 6Deuteronomy 18:6 8This 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 of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in[ † ]Judges 18:19Genesis 45:8Job 29:16 11and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.
12Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.[ † ]Judges 17:5Judges 18:30 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”[ † ]Judges 18:4