1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
3 And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”
4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
7 And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah.
8 This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”
10 “Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in
11 and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.
12 Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.
13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the story of Micah in Judges 17 about?
Why does Micah hire a Levite as his priest?
What does 'every man did that which was right in his own eyes' mean in Judges 17:6?
Today's Verse
And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.
Verse Of The DayThe chapter's refrain that 'every man did that which was right in his own eyes' frames Micah hiring a homeless young Levite as his personal priest for ten shekels of silver a year, an arrangement whose consequences unfold in Judges 18. A related passage on that same refrain is cross-referenced at Proverbs 14:12.
