Judges 17

Micah’s Homemade Religion

1 There was a dude named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim.

2 He told his mom, “Listen, those 1,100 silver coins you were cussing somebody out about, they were stolen, I must confess… I took them.” His mom said, “Bless you, baby, may the Lord bless you for coming clean.”

3 He gave the 1,100 coins back to his mom, and she said, “I dedicated this money to the Lord for you, to make a carved idol and a metal god-image.”

4 She gave 200 silver coins to a silversmith, who made an idol out of it. Micah set it up in his house.

5 Micah had his own shrine. He made his own priest outfit and even made one of his sons a priest.

6 Back then, there was no king in Israel, everybody just did whatever they felt like doing.

A Levite on the Move

7 There was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, from the tribe of Levi. He left town looking for a place to stay.

8 He was traveling when he came to Micah’s spot in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 Micah asked him, “Where you from?” The Levite said, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem. I am out here looking for a place to stay.”

10 Micah said, “Come stay with me, I will pay you ten silver coins a year, give you clothes and food. Be my personal priest.”

11 The Levite agreed. He moved in, and Micah treated him like family.

12 Micah made him the official house priest and gave him that priest outfit. The Levite lived in Micah’s crib.

13 Micah said, “Now I know the Lord is going to bless me, I got a Levite as my priest.”