| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. | 1There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. |
| 2And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my son!” | 2One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.” “The LORD bless you for admitting it,” his mother replied. |
| 3So when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you.” | 3He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” |
| 4Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah. | 4So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house. |
| 5The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. | 5Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest. |
| 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. | 6In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. |
| 7Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. | 7One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area. |
| 8The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. | 8He had left Bethlehem in search of another place to live, and as he traveled, he came to the hill country of Ephraim. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through. |
| 9And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.” | 9“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.” |
| 10Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. | 10“Stay here with me,” Micah said, “and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food.” |
| 11Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. | 11The Levite agreed to this, and the young man became like one of Micah’s sons. |
| 12So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. | 12So Micah installed the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. |
| 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!” | 13“I know the LORD will bless me now,” Micah said, “because I have a Levite serving as my priest.” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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