The False Gods of Micah

17 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. ² 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 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 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 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 There was no king in Israel in those days. Each man did what he thought was right.

⁷ 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 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 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 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 The Levite agreed to live with the man. And the young man was like a son to Micah. ¹² So Micah set apart the Levite. The young man became his religious leader and lived in Micah’s house. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will bring good to me because I have a Levite as my religious leader.”