Judges 17:13
New International Version
And Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

New Living Translation
“I know the LORD will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.”

English Standard Version
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

Berean Standard Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

King James Bible
Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

New King James Version
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”

New American Standard Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.”

NASB 1995
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”

NASB 1977
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will prosper me because I have a Levite as priest.”

Amplified Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will favor me and make me prosper because I have a Levite as my priest.”

Christian Standard Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

American Standard Version
Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Contemporary English Version
Micah said, "I have a Levite as my own priest. Now I know that the LORD will be kind to me."

English Revised Version
Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me. I have a Levite for my priest."

Good News Translation
Micah said, "Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the LORD will make things go well for me."

International Standard Version
As for Micah, he kept saying, "Now I know the LORD will make me rich, because I have a descendant of Levi for a priest!"

Majority Standard Bible
Then Micah said, ?Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.?

NET Bible
Micah said, "Now I know God will make me rich, because I have this Levite as my priest."

New Heart English Bible
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will do good to me, seeing I have a Levite as my priest."

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite for my priest.

World English Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and Micah says, “Now I have known that YHWH does good to me, for the Levite has been for a priest to me.”

Young's Literal Translation
and Micah saith, 'Now I have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a priest.'

Smith's Literal Translation
And Micah will say, Now I knew that Jehovah will be good to me, for there being to me the Levite for priest.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now I know God will do me good, since I have a priest of the race of the Levites.

Catholic Public Domain Version
saying: “Now I know that God will be good to me, since I have a priest from the stock of the Levites.”

New American Bible
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, since I have the Levite as my priest.”

New Revised Standard Version
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Mikah said: “Now I know that LORD JEHOVAH will do good to me, for I have a Levite Priest.”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Then said Micah: 'Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite as my priest.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Michaias said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, because a Levite has become my priest.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Micah's Idolatry
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.”

Cross References
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Isaiah 44:10-20
Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing? / Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame. / The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint. ...

Jeremiah 7:4-10
Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ / For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another, / if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm, ...

Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. / Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ / Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

Isaiah 1:11-15
“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. / When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? / Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ...

Hosea 8:2-4
Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!” / But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him. / They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.

Matthew 15:8-9
‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. / They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

1 Samuel 15:22-23
But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. / For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

Ezekiel 33:31-32
So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain. / Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.

Micah 3:11
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

Romans 10:2-3
For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. / Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

2 Kings 17:33-34
They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away. / To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

John 4:22-24
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. / But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. / God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Amos 5:21-23
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. / Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. / Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.


Treasury of Scripture

Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Isaiah 44:20
He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Isaiah 6:3,4
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory…

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Levite Micah Priest Prosper
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Levite Micah Priest Prosper
Judges 17
1. Of the money that Micah first stole, then restored, his mother makes idols
5. And he makes ornaments for them
7. He hires a Levite to be his priest














Then Micah said
Micah, a resident of the hill country of Ephraim, is a central figure in this narrative. His actions reflect the spiritual confusion and idolatry prevalent in Israel during the time of the Judges, a period marked by the absence of centralized leadership and widespread moral decay (Judges 21:25). Micah's statement reveals his personal beliefs and the syncretism that had infiltrated Israelite worship.

“Now I know that the LORD will be good to me
Micah's confidence in receiving the LORD's favor is based on his own understanding and manipulation of religious practices. This reflects a common misconception that God's blessings can be earned through human actions or arrangements, rather than through obedience and faithfulness to His covenant. This attitude contrasts with the biblical teaching that God's favor is not transactional but relational, rooted in His grace and the covenant relationship with His people (Deuteronomy 7:9).

because a Levite has become my priest.”
The Levite's role as a priest in Micah's household is significant. Levites were set apart for religious duties, but only descendants of Aaron were to serve as priests (Numbers 3:10). Micah's installation of a Levite as his personal priest indicates a departure from the prescribed order of worship. This act of appointing a Levite outside the established priestly line highlights the disorder and disregard for God's commandments during this era. It also foreshadows the later establishment of unauthorized worship centers in Israel, such as those set up by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:31). This situation underscores the need for a faithful priesthood, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who mediates a new covenant (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Persons / Places / Events
1. Micah
A man from the hill country of Ephraim who creates a shrine and appoints his own son as a priest before hiring a Levite.

2. Levite
A young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the tribe of Levi, who becomes a priest for Micah, despite the irregularity of the situation.

3. Ephraim
A region in Israel where Micah resides, known for its central location and significance in Israelite history.

4. Bethlehem in Judah
The Levite's original home, a town with significant biblical history, including being the birthplace of King David and later Jesus.

5. The Shrine
A place of worship created by Micah, which includes an idol and household gods, contrary to the commandments given to Israel.
Teaching Points
Misplaced Confidence
Micah's belief that having a Levite as a priest guarantees God's favor reflects a misunderstanding of true worship and obedience. Our confidence should be in God's promises and commands, not in external symbols or arrangements.

The Danger of Syncretism
Micah's blending of true worship with idolatry serves as a warning against mixing biblical faith with cultural or personal preferences. True worship requires adherence to God's instructions.

The Role of Leadership
The Levite's willingness to serve in an unauthorized capacity highlights the importance of godly leadership. Leaders should guide others in truth, not accommodate practices that deviate from God's Word.

Seeking God's Will
Micah's actions demonstrate the human tendency to seek God's blessing through our own means. Instead, we should seek to understand and follow God's will as revealed in Scripture.

The Importance of Obedience
Micah's account reminds us that obedience to God's commands is more important than religious rituals or symbols. True blessing comes from a heart aligned with God's will.(13) That the Lord will do me good.--In this anticipation we find a very little further on that he was rudely undeceived, and we are hardly in a position to know whether it was due to hypocrisy or to mere ignorance. So far as Micah was devout and sincere, we must feel that the Lord did him good by stripping him of his gorgeous instruments of superstition and humbling his pride.

I have a Levite to my priest.--Rather, the Levite. The article may be generic, meaning "one of the Levites;" but Jonathan, as a son of Gershom, has a special right to be called "the Levite," as a representative of the tribe. It is at least doubtful whether the priestly functions expected of him in this instance included sacrifice; but, in any case, Micah could hardly have been entirely unaware that the Levites were incapable of priestly functions ("Seek ye the priesthood also?"--Numbers 16:10), or of the fact that the authorised worship of the nation was to be confined to the place which God should choose, which in this instance was Shiloh. In any case, however, the passage furnishes us with a fresh proof of the utter neglect of the Mosaic law, as represented in the Book of Leviticus, from a very early period. His "house of God" seems to have resembled the high places, which even the faithful kings of Israel were unable or unwilling to clear away. They were ultimately cleared away by Hezekiah, but not without so great a shock to the then established custom, that Rabshakeh actually appeals to the fact in proof of Hezekiah's impiety, and as a sign that he has forfeited the favour of Jehovah (2Kings 18:22).

Verse 13. - Then said Micah, etc. We may notice this incidental proof that the Levites in the time of Micah held the religious position which is ascribed to them in the Pentateuch. I have a Levite. Rather, the Levite, meaning the particular Levite of whom it is the question. A Levite would be without the article, as in ver. 7, or would be expressed as in Judges 19:1 (Hebrews), a man a Levite.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Micah
מִיכָ֔ה (mî·ḵāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4318: Micah -- the name of several Israelites

said,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Now
עַתָּ֣ה (‘at·tāh)
Adverb
Strong's 6258: At this time

I know
יָדַ֔עְתִּי (yā·ḏa‘·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3045: To know

that
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

will be good
יֵיטִ֥יב (yê·ṭîḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3190: To be good, well, glad, or pleasing

to me,
לִ֑י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

because
כִּ֧י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

a Levite
הַלֵּוִ֖י (hal·lê·wî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3881: Levites -- descendant of Levi

has become
הָיָה־ (hā·yāh-)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

my priest.”
לְכֹהֵֽן׃ (lə·ḵō·hên)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest


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OT History: Judges 17:13 Then said Micah Now know I that (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 17:12
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