And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter {Or, an adjuration}a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah.
And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily {Or, had dedicated}dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
And the man Micah had a house of {Or, God}gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and {Hebrew: filled the hand of.}consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.
And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Querverweise zu Richter 17,5 Ri 17,5
And he said, ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee?
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
Now Laban was gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's.
And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and bind head-tires on them: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.
And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto Jehovah.
And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi.
Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods;
And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a {Or, turban}mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without {Or, obelisk}pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: {Or, whomsoever he would}whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded {Or, temples}palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the {Or, palaces}castles thereof.
And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skilful workman; like the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
And {Or, by this thing he became}this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron.