Micah’s Idolatry 1 UST There was a man whose name was Micah who lived in the hilly area that belongs to the tribe of Ephraim. BSB BSB: Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
2 UST One day he said to his mother,“Someone stole 1, 100 pieces of silver from your house. I heard you ask Yahweh to make bad things happen to whoever did that. I confess that I took that silver, and I still have it.” His mother replied,“My son, may Yahweh do good things for you{ because you admitted this}!” BSB BSB: said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
3 UST Micah gave the 1, 100 pieces of silver back to his mother. Then she said,“I am dedicating some of this silver to Yahweh. I am giving it to you, my son, so that you can have someone mold a figure from it. I will give you enough silver to do that.” BSB BSB: And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”
4 UST When Micah gave the silver pieces back to his mother, she took 200 of them and gave them to a metal worker. That man made a molded figure with the silver. Then he gave the figure to Micah. Micah kept it in his home. BSB BSB: So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.
5 UST Micah made a shrine in which he worshiped idols. He made the kind of vest that priests wear. He also made some small, personal idols. Micah appointed one of his sons to be his priest at this shrine. BSB BSB: Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
6 UST At that time, Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what they thought they should do. BSB BSB: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
7 UST There was a young man who had been living in the town of Bethlehem where people from the tribe of Judah live. He belonged to the tribe of Levi, but he had been living temporarily in the territory that Joshua had assigned to the tribe of Judah. BSB BSB: And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah.
8 UST Then he left Bethlehem to look for another place to live. As he was looking, he came to Micah’ s house in the hilly area that belongs to the tribe of Ephraim. BSB BSB: This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 UST Micah asked him,“Where are you from?” He replied,“I have come from Bethlehem in the territory of Judah. I belong to the tribe of Levi, and I am looking for a new place to live for a while.” BSB BSB: “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”
10 UST Micah told him,“You may live in my house with me. You can advise me and be my priest. Each year I will give to you ten pieces of silver and some new clothes. I will also provide food for you.” So the Levite stayed there. BSB BSB: “Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in
11 UST The Levite agreed to live with Micah. He became like one of his own sons. BSB BSB: and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.
12 UST Micah appointed the Levite to be his priest, and he lived on Micah’ s property. BSB BSB: Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.
13 UST Then Micah said,“Now I know that Yahweh will do good things for me, because I have a Levite as my priest.” BSB BSB: Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”
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