1 N ow there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah.

2 H e said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.”

He said to his mother, “There were 1, 100 pieces of silver taken from you. And I heard you pray that the robber would be cursed. See, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May the Lord bring good to you, my son.”

3 H e then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you.”

He returned the 1, 100 pieces of silver to his mother. And she said, “I set apart all the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son. It is to be used in making an object to look like a god. So I will return the silver to you.”

4 S o when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah.

When he returned the silver to his mother, she gave 200 pieces to the man who works with silver. He made them into an object to look like a god for Micah’s house.

5 A nd the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest.

The man Micah had a special building where gods were worshiped. He made a holy vest and gods for the house. And he set apart one of his sons to be his religious leader.

6 I n those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

There was no king in Israel in those days. Each man did what he thought was right.

7 N ow there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.

Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite, of the family of Judah, and he was staying there.

8 T hen the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah.

He left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to find a place to live. As he traveled he came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 M icah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.”

Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am going to stay where I may find a place.”

10 M icah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.” So the Levite went in.

Then Micah said to him, “Live with me. Be a father and a religious leader to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, new clothes, and your living.” So the Levite went in.

11 T he Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

The Levite agreed to live with the man. And the young man was like a son to Micah.

12 S o Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah.

So Micah set apart the Levite. The young man became his religious leader and lived in Micah’s house.

13 T hen Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”

Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will bring good to me because I have a Levite as my religious leader.”