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Judges 17

Micah and the Levite

1 There was a man of ^athe hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, ^b“Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make ^ca carved image and ^da metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother ^etook 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made ^fan ephod and ^ghousehold gods, and ^hordained ^{▼

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Hebrew filled the hand of; also verse 12} one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 ^jIn those days there was no king in Israel. ^kEveryone did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man of ^lBethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to ^mthe hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me ⁿa father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite ^owas content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 And Micah ^pordained the Levite, and the young man ^qbecame his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”