| | 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 that silver with me; I took it." Then his mother said, "The LORD bless you, my son!" | |
| | 3 | When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, "I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make a carved image and a cast idol. I will give it back 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 the image and the idol. And they were put in Micah's house. | |
| | 5 | Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest. | |
| | 6 | In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. | |
| | 7 | A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, | |
| | 8 | left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. | |
| | 9 | Micah asked him, "Where are you from?" "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah," he said, "and I'm looking for a place to stay." | |
| | 10 | Then Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food." | |
| | 11 | So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man was to him like one of his sons. | |
| | 12 | Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. | |
| | 13 | And Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest." | |
