Micah’s Idolatry

Micah admits that he stole his mother's eleven hundred shekels of silver after hearing her curse, and his confession prompts a blessing instead of judgment. The silver is then supposedly dedicated to the LORD, yet part of it is made into images and placed in Micah's house, where he establishes a private shrine, makes an ephod and household gods, ordains one of his sons as priest, and the narrator reminds the reader that in those days everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

N¹ow a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim ²said 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.” ³And 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.” ⁴So 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. ⁵Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest. ⁶In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah travels in search of a place to stay and arrives at Micah's house in Ephraim. Micah hires him to act as father and priest, the Levite settles in like a son, and Micah ordains him, concluding that the LORD will surely prosper him now that a Levite serves at his shrine.

⁷And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah. ⁸This 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“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. ¹⁰“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.” ¹¹So the Levite went in and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah. ¹²Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. ¹³Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”