Richter 17 | King James Version

1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. 3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place : and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place . 10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

New International Reader’s Version

Micah’s false gods

1 A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He said to his mother, ‘Someone took 13 kilograms of silver from you. I heard you curse the one who took it. I have the silver with me. I’m the one who took it.’ Then his mother said, ‘My son, may the LORD bless you!’ 3 He gave the 13 kilograms of silver back to his mother. She said to him, ‘I’m making a promise to set apart my silver to the LORD. My son, I want you to use it to cover a statue of a god made out of wood or stone. That’s why I’ll give the silver back to you.’ 4 Micah gave the silver back to his mother. Then she gave 2.5 kilograms of it to a skilled worker who made things out of silver. He used the silver for the statue. The statue was put in Micah’s house. 5 That same Micah had a small temple. He made a sacred linen apron and some statues of his family gods. He appointed one of his sons to serve as his priest. 6 In those days Israel didn’t have a king. The people did anything they thought was right. 7 A young Levite had been living in land that belonged to the tribe of Judah. He was from Bethlehem in Judah. 8 He left that town to look for some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house. It was in the hill country of Ephraim. 9 Micah asked him, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘I’m a Levite,’ he said. ‘I’m from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m looking for a place to stay.’ 10 Then Micah said to him, ‘Live with me. Be my father and priest. I’ll give you 120 grams of silver a year. I’ll also give you clothes and food.’ 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him. The young man became just like one of Micah’s sons to him. 12 Then Micah appointed the Levite to serve as his priest. He lived in Micah’s house. 13 Micah said, ‘Now I know that the LORD will be good to me. This Levite has become my priest.’

Richter 17 | King James Version New International Reader’s Version

Micah’s false gods