Judges 17

Micah’s Idolatry

1Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2said 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 the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said,“ Blessed be my son by the LORD!”11,100 shekels is approximately 27.6 pounds or 12.5 kilograms of silver; also in verse 3. 3And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said,“ I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.” 4So 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 a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.1200 shekels is approximately 5 pounds or 2.3 kilograms of silver. 5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.1Hebrew filled the hand of; also in verse 12 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 7And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah. 8This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. 9“ Where are you from?” Micah asked him.“ I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied,“ and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.” 10“ Stay with me,” Micah said to him,“ and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in110 shekels is approximately 4 ounces or 114 grams of silver. 11and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah. 12Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13Then Micah said,“ Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”