Micah’s Descent into Idolatry

1A man named Micah lived in the mountainous regiona of the territory ofb Ephraim. 2He told his mother, “Do you rememberc those 1,100 silver coins that were stolen from you and about which you uttered a curse when I could hear it? Well, I have the silver. I took it.”

So she replied, “May my son be blessed by the LORD.”

3Her son gave back the 1,100 silver coins to his mother, and she said, “I’m totally giving this silver—from my hand to the LORD—so my son can make a carved image and a cast image. So I’m returning it to you.”

4When he had returned the silver to his mother, his mother took 200 of the silver coins and handed them over to a silversmith. He crafted them into a carved image and into a cast image, and they were set upd in Micah’s house. 5This man Micah had his own shrine,e had crafted his own ephod and some household idols,f and had installed one of his sons as a priest.

6Back in those days, Israel didn’t yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion.

7A young male descendant of Levi happened to be visiting there from Bethlehem in the territory ofg Judah. 8The man had left his city Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could. As he traveled along, he eventually arrived at Micah’s house in the mountainous regionh of Ephraim, looking for work.

9Micah asked him, “Where did you come from?”

He replied, “I’m a descendant of Levi from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay temporarily wherever I can find a place.”i

10So Micah replied, “Come live with me! You can be a spiritual fatherj to me, as well as a priest. I’ll pay you ten silver coins a year, plus a priestly uniformk and an income.” So the descendant of Levi moved in. 11The descendant of Levi agreed to live with the man, and the young man became like one of the family.l 12Micah set up the descendant of Levi in ministry, and the young man became his priest while he lived in Micah’s house. 13As for Micah, he kept saying, “Now I know the LORD will make me rich, because I have a descendant of Levi for a priest!”