< Judges 17 >
1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Michaias.
2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which you took of yourself, and [about which] you cursed me, and spoke in my ears, behold, the silver [is] with me; I took it: and his mother said, Blessed [be] my son of the Lord.
3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I had wholly consecrated the money to the Lord out of my hand for my son, to make a graven and a molten [image], and now I will restore it to you.
4 But he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, and he made it a graven and a molten image; and it was in the house of Michaias.
5 And the house of Michaias [was] to him the house of God, and he made an ephod and theraphin, and he consecrated one of his sons, and he became to him a priest.
6 And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 And there was a young man in Bethleem of the tribe of Juda, and he [was] a Levite, and he was sojourning there.
8 And the man departed from Bethleem the city of Juda to sojourn in whatever place he might find; and he came as far as mount Ephraim, and to the house of Michaias to accomplish his journey.
9 And Michaias said to him, Whence come you? and he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethleem Juda, and I go to sojourn in any place I may find.
10 And Michaias said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest; and I will give you ten pieces of silver by the year, and a change of raiment, and your living.
11 And the Levite went and began to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.
12 And Michaias consecrated the Levite, and he became to him a priest, and he was in the house of Michaias.
13 And Michaias said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, because a Levite has become my priest.