Judges 17

1 And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah,

A man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

2 and he saith to his mother, 'The eleven hundred silverlings which have been taken of thine, and [of which] thou hast sworn, and also spoken in mine ears; lo, the silver [is] with me, I have taken it;' and his mother saith, 'Blessed [is] my son of Jehovah.'

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!”

3 And he giveth back the eleven hundred silverlings to his mother, and his mother saith, 'I had certainly sanctified the silver to Jehovah, from my hand, for my son, to make a graven image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to thee.'

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.”

4 And he giveth back the money to his mother, and his mother taketh two hundred silverlings, and giveth them to a refiner, and he maketh them a graven image, and a molten image, and it is in the house of Micah.

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.

5 As to the man Micah, he hath a house of gods, and he maketh an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrateth the hand of one of his sons, and he is to him for a priest;

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.

6 in those days there is no king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth.

At that time Israel didn't have a king— everyone did what they themselves thought was the right thing to do.

7 And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a sojourner there.

One young man, a Levite from the tribe of Judah had been living in Bethlehem in Judah,

8 And the man goeth out of the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he doth find, and cometh to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, to work his way.

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.

9 And Micah saith to him, 'Whence comest thou?' and he saith unto him, 'A Levite [am] I, of Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I do find.'

“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.”

10 And Micah saith to him, 'Dwell with me, and be to me for a father and for a priest, and I give to thee ten silverlings for the days, and a suit of garments, and thy sustenance;' and the Levite goeth [in].

“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

11 And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons.

and agreed to stay with him. The young man became like a son to him.

12 And Micah consecrateth the hand of the Levite, and the young man is to him for a priest, and he is in the house of Micah,

Micah ordained the Levite as his own priest and he lived in Micah's house.

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

“I'm sure the Lord will bless me now, because I have a Levite as my priest,” Micah concluded.