Judges 17
1 A man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
Fuit eo tempore vir quidam de monte Ephraim nomine Michas,
2 told his mother, “Those eleven hundred shekels of silver that were stolen from you and that I heard you curse—I've got the silver. I was the one who took it.” Then his mother said, “My son, the Lord bless you!”
qui dixit matri suæ: Mille et centum argenteos, quos separaveras tibi, et super quibus me audiente juraveras, ecce ego habeo, et apud me sunt. Cui illa respondit: Benedictus filius meus Domino.
3 He gave back to his mother the eleven hundred shekels of silver. His mother announced, “I'm completely dedicating this money to the Lord. I'm handing it over to my son to have an idol carved, an image made with molten silver. So now I return it to you.”
Reddidit ergo eos matri suæ, quæ dixerat ei: Consecravi et vovi hoc argentum Domino, ut de manu mea suscipiat filius meus, et faciat sculptile atque conflatile: et nunc trado illud tibi.
4 After he'd returned the silver to his mother she gave two hundred shekels to a silversmith who made it into a carved idol, an image made with molten silver. They were kept in Micah's house.
Reddidit igitur eos matri suæ: quæ tulit ducentos argenteos, et dedit eos argentario, ut faceret ex eis sculptile atque conflatile, quod fuit in domo Michæ.
5 Micah had built a shrine for the idol. He also made an ephod and some household gods, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
Qui ædiculam quoque in ea deo separavit, et fecit ephod, et theraphim, id est, vestem sacerdotalem, et idola: implevitque unius filiorum suorum manum, et factus est ei sacerdos.
6 At that time Israel didn't have a king— everyone did what they themselves thought was the right thing to do.
In diebus illis non erat rex in Israël, sed unusquisque quod sibi rectum videbatur, hoc faciebat.
7 One young man, a Levite from the tribe of Judah had been living in Bethlehem in Judah,
Fuit quoque alter adolescens de Bethlehem Juda, ex cognatione ejus: eratque ipse Levites, et habitabat ibi.
8 left Bethlehem to look for a different place to live. As he traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, he came to Micah's house.
Egressusque de civitate Bethlehem, peregrinari voluit ubicumque sibi commodum reperisset. Cumque venisset in montem Ephraim, iter faciens, et declinasset parumper in domum Michæ,
9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” the man replied. “I'm looking for a place to live.”
interrogatus est ab eo unde venisset. Qui respondit: Levita sum de Bethlehem Juda, et vado ut habitem ubi potuero, et utile mihi esse perspexero.
10 “Come and stay here with me. You can be my ‘father’ and priest, and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year, plus your clothes and food.” So the Levite went inside
Dixitque Michas: Mane apud me, et esto mihi parens ac sacerdos: daboque tibi per annos singulos decem argenteos, ac vestem duplicem, et quæ ad victum sunt necessaria.
11 and agreed to stay with him. The young man became like a son to him.
Acquievit, et mansit apud hominem, fuitque illi quasi unus de filiis.
12 Micah ordained the Levite as his own priest and he lived in Micah's house.
Implevitque Michas manum ejus, et habuit puerum sacerdotem apud se:
13 “I'm sure the Lord will bless me now, because I have a Levite as my priest,” Micah concluded.
Nunc scio, dicens, quod benefaciet mihi Deus habenti Levitici generis sacerdotem.
