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1There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.
2He said to his mother, “You know that eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you spoke a curse that I heard—Look! I have the silver. I took it.” His mother said, “May my son be blessed by the Lord .”[#17:2 The Hebrew text reads one thousand one hundred ___ of silver without specifying a unit of measure. It probably refers to a collection of scrap silver that weighed eleven hundred shekels. Coins were not yet in use at this time.]
3Micah returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother.
Then his mother said, “The silver that I received from my son I solemnly dedicate to the Lord to make a cast and engraved idol for my son's benefit. So now I will return it to you.”
4He returned the silver to his mother, and his mother gave two hundred shekels of silver to the silversmith, who made them into a cast and engraved idol, which was placed in the house of Micah.
5This man Micah had a “house of God,” where he placed a special priests vest and a household god and where he ordained one of his sons as his own priest.[#17:5 Literally filled the hand of . The same expression is used for Moses' ordination of priests. The same term occurs in verse 12.]
6In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did whatever was right in his own eyes.
7Meanwhile, there was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, a city which belonged to a clan of Judah. He was a Levite, but he resided in Bethlehem even though he was not a Judean.[#17:7 Literally resided as an alien . The term often refers to an alien from a different ethnic group. Here, however, it refers to an “alien” from a different tribe.]
8This man left the city—Bethlehem of Judah—to take up residence wherever he could find a place to stay. As he went on his way, he came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim.
9Micah said to him, “Where did you come from?”
He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am going to take up residence wherever I can find a place to stay.”
10Micah said to him, “Stay with me! Be a father and a priest to me. I will give you ten shekels of silver a year, an allowance for your clothing, and your food.”
So the Levite went with him.
11The Levite was willing to stay with the man, and he became like one of his sons.
12Micah ordained the Levite, so the young man became his priest and lived in Micah's house.
13Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will treat me well, because I have this Levite as my priest.”