Judges 17:1–13

¹ Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim ² said 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!” ³ And 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.” ⁴ So 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. ⁵ Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest. ⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. ⁷ And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah. ⁸ This 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 ¹¹ and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah. ¹² Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”