1A man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

2told his mother, “Those eleven hundred shekels of silver that were stolen from you and that I heard you curse—I've got the silver. I was the one who took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, the Lord bless you!” ⁵⁴

3He gave back to his mother the eleven hundred shekels of silver. His mother announced, “I'm completely dedicating this money to the Lord. I'm handing it over to my son to have an idol carved, an image made with molten silver. ⁵⁵So now I return it to you.”

4After he'd returned the silver to his mother she gave two hundred shekels to a silversmith who made it into a carved idol, an image made with molten silver. They were kept in Micah's house.

5Micah had built a shrine for the idol. He also made an ephod and some household gods, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

6At that time Israel didn't have a king— everyone did what they themselves thought was the right thing to do. ⁵⁶

7One young man, a Levite from the tribe of Judah ⁵⁷had been living in Bethlehem in Judah,

8left Bethlehem to look for a different place to live. As he traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, he came to Micah's house.

9“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man replied. “I'm looking for a place to live.”

10“Come and stay here with me. You can be my ‘father’ and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, plus your clothes and food.” So the Levite went inside

11and agreed to stay with him. The young man became like a son to him.

12Micah ordained the Levite as his own priest and he lived in Micah's house.

13“I'm sure the Lord will bless me now, because I have a Levite as my priest,” Micah concluded.