The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim named Micah.
1
There was once a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim.
2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you took an oath and said in my hearing, I have given this silver to the Lord from my hand for myself, to make a pictured image and a metal image: see, I have the silver, for I took it: so now I will give it back to you. And his mother said, May the blessing of the Lord be on my son.
2
He told his mother, "When someone stole those eleven hundred pieces of silver from you, you put a curse on the robber. I heard you do it. Look, I have the money. I am the one who took it." His mother said, "May the Lord bless you, my son!"
3 And he gave back the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, and his mother said, I have made the silver holy to the Lord from me for my son, to make a pictured image and a metal image.
3
He gave the money back to his mother, and she said, "To keep the curse from falling on my son, I myself am solemnly dedicating the silver to the Lord. It will be used to make a wooden idol covered with silver. So now I will give the pieces of silver back to you."
4 So he gave the silver back to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a metal-worker who made a pictured image and a metal image from them: and it was in the house of Micah.
4
Then he gave them back to his mother. She took two hundred of the pieces of silver and gave them to a metalworker, who made an idol, carving it from wood and covering it with the silver. It was placed in Micah's house.
5 And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest.
5
This man Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.
6
There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.
7 Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place.
7
At that same time there was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah.
8 And he went away from the town of Beth-lehem-judah, looking for somewhere to make his living-place; and on his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.
8
He left Bethlehem to find another place to live. While he was traveling, he came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah, and I am looking for a living-place.
9
Micah asked him, "Where do you come from?" He answered, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live."
10 Then Micah said to him, Make your living-place with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year and your clothing and food.
10
Micah said, "Stay with me. Be my adviser and priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, some clothes, and your food."
11 And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons.
11
The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah and became like a son to him.
12 And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
12
Micah appointed him as his priest, and he lived in Micah's home.
13 Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.
13
Micah said, "Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the Lord will make things go well for me."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.