Judges 17

Micah’s Idolatry

1Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse 1in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son 2to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return 3them to you.” 4So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made 4them into a graven image and a molten image, and 5they were in the house of Micah. 5And the man Micah had a 67shrine and he made an 8ephod and 910household idols and 11consecrated one of his sons, 12that he might become his priest. 6In those days 13there was no king in Israel; 14every man did what was right in his own eyes.

7Now there was a young man from 15Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was 16staying there. 8Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to 17stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the 18hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to 19stay wherever I may find a place.” 10Micah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be 20a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.” So the Levite went in. 11The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12So Micah 21consecrated the Levite, and the young man 22became his priest and 23lived in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”