[1] There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. [2] He said to his mother, "The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on-here's the silver. I took it." Then his mother said, "My son, may you be blessed by the LORD!" [3] He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, "I personally consecrate the silver to the LORD for my son's benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol. I will give it back to you." [4] So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah's house. [5] This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest. [6] In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him. [7] There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah. [8] The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah's home in the hill country of Ephraim. [9] "Where do you come from?" Micah asked him. He answered him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I'm going to stay wherever I can find a place." [10] Micah replied, "Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions." So the Levite went in [11] and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons. [12] Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah's house. [13] Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest."
