New Century Version NCV
New International Version NIV
1 There was a man named Micah who lived in the mountains of Ephraim.
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Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
2 He said to his mother, "I heard you speak a curse about the twenty-eight pounds of silver that were taken from you. I have the silver with me; I took it." His mother said, "The Lord bless you, my son!"
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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 that silver with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “The LORD bless you, my son!”
3 Micah gave the twenty-eight pounds of silver to his mother. Then she said, "I will give this silver to the Lord. I will have my son make an idol and a statue. So I will give the silver back to you."
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When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”
4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took about five pounds and gave it to a silversmith. With it he made an idol and a statue, which stood in Micah's house.
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So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.
5 Micah had a special holy place, and he made a holy vest and some household idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest.
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Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.
6 At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.
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In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
7 There was a young man who was a Leviten from the city of Bethlehem in Judah who was from the people of Judah.
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A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah,
8 He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live, and on his way he came to Micah's house in the mountains of Ephraim.
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left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah asked him, "Where are you from?" He answered, "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I'm looking for a place to live."
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Micah asked him, “Where are you from?” “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10 Micah said to him, "Live with me and be my father and my priest. I will give you four ounces of silver each year and clothes and food." So the Levite went in.
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Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.”
11 He agreed to live with Micah and became like one of Micah's own sons.
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So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him.
12 Micah made him a priest, and he lived in Micah's house.
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Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.
13 Then Micah said, "Now I know the Lord will be good to me, because I have a Levite as my priest."
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And Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.