Judges

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim

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!"

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."

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.

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.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah,

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.

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."

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 real-life expenses."

So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him.

Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.

And Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest." Personal legitimacy was sought through religious association.