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New Living Translation |   | |
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| | Jdg 17:1 | A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim.
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| | Jdg 17:2 | One day he said to his mother, "I heard you curse the thief who stole eleven hundred pieces of silver from you. Well, here they are. I was the one who took them." "The LORD bless you for admitting it," his mother replied.
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| | Jdg 17:3 | He returned the money to her, and she said, "I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast."
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| | Jdg 17:4 | So his mother took two hundred of the silver coins to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah's house.
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| | Jdg 17:5 | Micah set up a shrine, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as the priest.
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| | Jdg 17:6 | In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
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| | Jdg 17:7 | One day a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah
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| | Jdg 17:8 | arrived in that area of Ephraim, looking for a good place to live. He happened to stop at Micah's house as he was traveling through.
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| | Jdg 17:9 | "Where are you from?" Micah asked him. And he replied, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live."
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| | Jdg 17:10 | "Stay here with me," Micah said, "and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food."
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| | Jdg 17:11 | The Levite agreed to this and became like one of Micah's sons.
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| | Jdg 17:12 | So Micah ordained the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah's house.
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| | Jdg 17:13 | "I know the LORD will bless me now," Micah said, "because I have a Levite serving as my priest."
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