There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you cursed the thief and also spoke about in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son before the LORD.” 3 He returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and she said, “I had truly dedicated the silver from my hand to the LORD for my son ato make an image carved from wood and plated with silver and a cast image of solid silver; so now, I will return it to you.”Ex 20:4, 23; 34:17 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made of it an image of silver-plated wood and a cast image of solid silver; and they were in the house of Micah. 5 Now the man Micah had a ahouse of gods , and he made an bephod and cteraphim and dedicated and installed one of his sons, dwho became his personal priest.Judg 18:24Judg 8:27; 18:14Gen 31:19Num 3:10 6 In those days athere was no king in Israel; bevery man did what was right in his own eyes.Judg 18:1; 19:1Deut 12:8; Judg 21:25
7 Now there was a young man from aBethlehem in Judah, from the family of the tribe of Judah, who was a 1Levite; and he was staying there temporarily.I.e. not one of the descendants of Judah, but living among them.Judg 19:1; Ruth 1:1, 2; Mic 5:2; Matt 2:1 8 Then the man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he could find a place; and as he journeyed, he came to the ahill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.Josh 24:33 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I can find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Live here with me and be aa father and a personal priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver each year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance .” So the Levite went in.Judg 18:19 11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to Micah like one of his sons. 12 So Micah dedicated the Levite, and the young man abecame his priest and lived in the house of Micah.Num 16:10; 18:1-7 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will favor me and make me prosper because I have a Levite as my priest.”