CHAPTER 17
He 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!”
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.”
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.
Now this man
Micah
had a shrine,
and he made
an ephod
and some household idols,
and installed
one
of his sons
to be
his priest.
And there was
a young
Levite
from Bethlehem
in Judah,
who
had been residing
within the clan
of Judah.
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.
“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.”
“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
Then Micah
said,
“Now
I know
that
the LORD
will be good
to me,
because
a Levite
has become
my priest.”