# Judges 17 (New King James Version)
Micah's Idolatry

##### Chapter 17
###### 1 Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name _was_ Micah.  
###### 2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred _shekels_ of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears--here _is_ the silver with me; I took it."
And his mother said, "_May you be_ blessed by the Lord, my son!"  
###### 3 So when he had returned the eleven hundred _shekels_ of silver to his mother, his mother said, "I had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to you."  
###### 4 Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred _shekels_ of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.

###### 5 The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.  
###### 6 In those days _there was_ no king in Israel; everyone did _what was_ right in his own eyes.

###### 7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he _was_ a Levite, and was staying there.  
###### 8 The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find _a place._ Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.  
###### 9 And Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?"
So he said to him, "I _am_ a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find _a place_ to stay."

###### 10 Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten _shekels_ of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance." So the Levite went in.  
###### 11 Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him.  
###### 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah.  
###### 13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!"