Judges 17 There was a man named Micah, who lived in the mountains of Ephraim.

NSB⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ There was a man named Micah, who lived in the mountains of Ephraim. ² He said to his mother: »When someone stole those eleven hundred pieces of silver from you, you put a curse on the robber. I heard you do it. Look, I have the money. I am the one who took it.« His mother said: »Jehovah blesses you.« ³ He gave the money back to his mother. She said: »To keep the curse from falling on my son, I myself solemnly dedicate the silver to Jehovah. It will be used to make a wooden idol covered with silver. Now I will give the pieces of silver back to you.« ⁴ He returned them to his mother. She took two hundred of the pieces of silver and gave them to a metalworker. The metalworker made an idol, carving it from wood and covering it with the silver. It was placed in Micah’s house. ⁵ Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest. ⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did whatever he or she wanted to do. ⁷ There was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. ⁸ The man left Bethlehem to find another place to live. While he was traveling, he came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim. ⁹ Micah asked him: »Where do you come from?« He answered: »I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I need a place to live.« ¹⁰ Micah said: »Stay here with me. Be my adviser and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year along with some clothes, and your food.« ¹¹ The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah. He became like a son to him. ¹² He lived in Micah’s home. Micah made him his priest. ¹³ Micah said: »Now I know that Jehovah will be good to me, since I have a Levite as a priest.«