1A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim.
2One day he said to his mother, "I heard you curse the thief who stole eleven hundred pieces of silver from you. Well, here they are. I was the one who took them." "The LORD bless you for admitting it," his mother replied.
3He returned the money to her, and she said, "I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast."
4So his mother took two hundred of the silver coins to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house.
5Micah set up a shrine, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as the priest.
6In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
7One day a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah
8arrived in that area of Ephraim, looking for a good place to live. He happened to stop at Micah’s house as he was traveling through.
9"Where are you from?" Micah asked him. And he replied, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live."
10"Stay here with me," Micah said, "and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food."
11The Levite agreed to this and became like one of Micah’s sons.
12So Micah ordained the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah’s house.
13"I know the LORD will bless me now," Micah said, "because I have a Levite serving as my priest."