New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 There was a man named Micah who lived in the mountains of Ephraim.
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There was a man from the hills of Efrayim named Mikhay'hu.
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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He said to his mother, "You know the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you - you pronounced a curse about it, and you told me about it? Well, the money is with me. I took it." His mother said, "May ADONAI bless 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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as he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. Then his mother said, "I solemnly dedicate this money of mine to ADONAI, in order for my son to make a carved image overlaid with silver. So now I'm giving 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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But he returned the money to his mother, and she took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the metalworker, who made a carved image overlaid with silver which was put in Mikhay'hu'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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This man Mikhah owned a house of God; so he made a ritual vest and household gods and consecrated one of his sons, who became his cohen.
6 At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.
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At that time there was no king in Isra'el; a man simply did whatever he thought was right.
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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There was a young man from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah, from the family of Y'hudah, who was a Levi. He had been staying
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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in Beit-Lechem, but he left there to find another place to live and came to the hills of Efrayim, where eventually he made his way to the house of Mikhah.
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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Mikhah asked him, "Where are you coming from?" He answered, "I am a Levi from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah, and I'm looking for a place to live."
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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Mikhah replied, "Stay with me, and be a father and cohen for me; I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, in addition to your clothing and food." So the Levi went in
11 He agreed to live with Micah and became like one of Micah's own sons.
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and agreed to stay with the man; the young man became like one of his sons.
12 Micah made him a priest, and he lived in Micah's house.
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After Mikhah consecrated the Levi, the young man became his cohen and stayed there in Mikhah's 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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Mikhah said, "Now I know that ADONAI will treat me well, because I have a Levi for a cohen.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.