Judges, Chapter 17

1. And there was a man of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Micah.    2. And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you cursed, and spoke of also in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. Behold, I took it. And his mother said, Be blessed of the LORD, my son.    3. And when he had given back the eleven hundred of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly given the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. And now I am giving it to you.    4. And he gave the money back to his mother. And his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a refiner, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image. And they were in the house of Micah.    5. And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and household gods, and anointed 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 eyes.    7. And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah, and he was a Levite. And he stayed there.    8. And the man went out of the city from Bethlehem-judah to live where he could find a place . And he came to Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.    9. And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-judah, and I go to live where I may find a place.    10. And Micah said to him, Live with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of clothes, and your food. And the Levite went in.    11. And the Levite was content to live with the man, and the young man was to 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 Micah said, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, since I have a Levite as my priest.