3 Micah gave the 28 pounds of silver back to his mother. Then she said, “I will give this silver as a special gift to the Lord. I will give it to my son so that he can make a statue and cover it with the silver. So now, son, I give the silver back to you.”
4 But Micah gave the silver back to his mother. So she took about 5 pounds of the silver and gave them to a silversmith. He used the silver to make a statue covered with silver. The statue was put in Micah’s house.
5 Micah had a temple for worshiping idols. He made an ephod and some house idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest.
6 (At that time the Israelites did not have a king, so everyone did what they thought was right.)
7 There was a young man who was a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah. He had been living among the tribe of Judah.
8 He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live. As he was traveling, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of the land of Ephraim.
9 Micah asked him, “Where have you come from?” The young man answered, “I am a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a place to live.”