Micah’s Priest

17 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. ² He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on—here’s the silver. I took it.”

Then his mother said, “My son, may you be blessed by the Lord!” ^(A)

³ He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I personally consecrate^(B) the silver to the Lord for my son’s benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol.^[a] I will give it back to you.” ⁴ So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah’s house.

⁵ This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols,^(C) and installed one of his sons to be his priest. ⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel;^(D) everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

⁷ There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.^{(E) 8} The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ “Where do you come from?” Micah asked him.

He answered him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay wherever I can find a place.”

¹⁰ Micah replied,^[b] “Stay with me and be my father^(F) and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions.” So the Levite went in ¹¹ and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons. ¹² Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest^(G) and lived in Micah’s house. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

Israel’s Demand for a King

8 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.^{(A) 2} His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.^{(B) 3} However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.^(C)

⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah.^{(D) 5} They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.”^(E)

⁶ When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king.^{(F) 8} They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me,^[a] since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. ⁹ Listen to them, but solemnly warn them^(G) and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.”

Idolatrous Elders Punished

14 Some of the elders of Israel came^(A) to me and sat down in front of me.^{(B) 2} Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³ “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put their sinful stumbling blocks in front of themselves.^(C) Should I actually let them inquire of me?^(D)

⁴ “Therefore, speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart and puts his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet, I, the Lord, will answer him appropriately.^[a] I will answer him according to his many idols, ⁵ so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from me because of their idols.’

⁶ “Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Repent and turn away^(E) from your idols; turn your faces away from all your detestable things. ⁷ For when anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside in Israel separates himself from me, setting up idols in his heart and putting his sinful stumbling block in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of me, I, the Lord, will answer him myself. ⁸ I will turn against that one and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among my people.^(F) Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “‘But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, the Lord, who deceived that prophet.^(G) I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.^{(H) 10} They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the one who inquires will be the same as that of the prophet— ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from following me and no longer defile themselves^(I) with all their transgressions. Then they will be my people and I will be their God.^(J) This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”