JUDGES 17 [†]There was a man of  t the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2[^]And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said,  u “Blessed be my son by the LORD.” 3[†]And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make  v a carved image and  w a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother  x took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5[†]And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made  y an ephod and  z household gods, and  a ordained [1] one of his sons, who became his priest. 6[†] b In those days there was no king in Israel.  c Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7[†]Now there was a young man of  d Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to  e the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9[†]And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me  f a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11And the Levite  g was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12And Micah  h ordained the Levite, and the young man  i became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”