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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Judges 17:13

Micah said, "Now I know that God will make things go well for me—why, I've got a Levite for a priest!"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jonathan;   Minister, Christian;   Scofield Reference Index - Apostasy;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jonathan;   Judges;   Micah;   Teraphim;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bethlehem;   Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Bethlehem;   Israel;   Kohath, Kohathites;   Levi;   Micah, Micaiah;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Jonathan ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Micah;   Teraphim;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bethlehem;   Criticism (the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis);   Deuteronomy;   Ezekiel;   Israel, History of the People;   Israel, Religion of;   Jonathan (1);   Judges, Period of;   Micah (1);   Priests and Levites;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Priest;   Sacrifice;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 3;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”
Hebrew Names Version
Then said Mikhah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my Kohen.
King James Version
Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Lexham English Bible
And Micah said, "Now I know Yahweh will make me prosperous, because the Levite has become my priest."
English Standard Version
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."
New Century Version
Then Micah said, "Now I know the Lord will be good to me, because I have a Levite as my priest."
New English Translation
Micah said, "Now I know the Lord will make me rich, because I have this Levite as my priest."
Amplified Bible
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will favor me and make me prosper because I have a Levite as my priest."
New American Standard Bible
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest."
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then said Michah, Nowe I know that the Lord will be good vnto me, seeing I haue a Leuite to my Priest.
Legacy Standard Bible
Toe sê Miga: Nou weet ek dat die HERE aan my goed sal doen, omdat ek 'n Leviet as priester het.
Contemporary English Version
Micah said, "I have a Levite as my own priest. Now I know that the Lord will be kind to me."
Complete Jewish Bible
Mikhah said, "Now I know that Adonai will treat me well, because I have a Levi for a cohen.
Darby Translation
Then said Micah, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, because I have the Levite for priest.
Easy-to-Read Version
And Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will be good to me. I know this because I have a man from the tribe of Levi to be my priest."
George Lamsa Translation
Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.
Good News Translation
Micah said, "Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the Lord will make things go well for me."
Literal Translation
And Micah said, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, for the Levite is a priest to me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Micha sayde: I am sure the LORDE wyll do me good now, that I haue a Leuite to my prest.
American Standard Version
Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Bible in Basic English
Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde Micah: Now I am sure that the Lord will be good vnto me, seing I haue a Leuite to my prieste.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said Micah: 'Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite as my priest.'
King James Version (1611)
Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will doe me good, seeing I haue a Leuite to my Priest.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Michaias said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, because a Levite has become my priest.
English Revised Version
Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Berean Standard Bible
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and seide, Now Y woot, that God schal do wel to me, hauynge a preest of the kyn of Leuy.
Young's Literal Translation
and Micah saith, `Now I have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a priest.'
Update Bible Version
Then Micah said, Now I know that Yahweh will do me good, seeing I have a Levite for my priest.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then said Micah, Now I know that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite for [my] priest.
World English Bible
Then said Micah, Now know I that Yahweh will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
New King James Version
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!"
New Living Translation
"I know the Lord will bless me now," Micah said, "because I have a Levite serving as my priest."
New Life Bible
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will bring good to me because I have a Levite as my religious leader."
New Revised Standard
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because the Levite has become my priest."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Micah - Now, I know that Yahweh will do me good, - seeing I have a Levite as my priest.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now I know God will do me good, since I have a priest of the race of the Levites.
Revised Standard Version
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest."

Contextual Overview

7Meanwhile there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah and from a family of Judah. He was a Levite but was a stranger there. He left that town, Bethlehem in Judah, seeking his fortune. He got as far as the hill country of Ephraim and showed up at Micah's house. 9 Micah asked him, "So where are you from?" He said, "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I'm on the road, looking for a place to settle down." 10 Micah said, "Stay here with me. Be my father and priest. I'll pay you ten pieces of silver a year, whatever clothes you need, and your meals." 11The Levite agreed and moved in with Micah. The young man fit right in and became one of the family. Micah appointed the young Levite as his priest. This all took place in Micah's home. 13 Micah said, "Now I know that God will make things go well for me—why, I've got a Levite for a priest!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 14:12, Isaiah 44:20, Isaiah 66:3, Isaiah 66:4, Matthew 15:9, Matthew 15:13, John 16:2, Acts 26:9, Romans 10:2, Romans 10:3

Reciprocal: Judges 17:3 - I had wholly Judges 18:5 - of God Judges 18:24 - what have 2 Kings 17:27 - one of the priests Proverbs 30:12 - that are Isaiah 5:18 - draw Isaiah 48:2 - and stay

Cross-References

Genesis 37:36
In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, manager of his household affairs.
Genesis 39:1
After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh's officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.
Exodus 21:2
"When you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years. The seventh year he goes free, for nothing. If he came in single he leaves single. If he came in married he leaves with his wife. If the master gives him a wife and she gave him sons and daughters, the wife and children stay with the master and he leaves by himself. But suppose the slave should say, ‘I love my master and my wife and children—I don't want my freedom,' then his master is to bring him before God and to a door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign that he is a slave for life.
Exodus 21:16
"If someone kidnaps a person, the penalty is death, regardless of whether the person has been sold or is still held in possession.
Nehemiah 5:8
The "Great Protest" A great protest was mounted by the people, including the wives, against their fellow Jews. Some said, "We have big families, and we need food just to survive." Others said, "We're having to mortgage our fields and vineyards and homes to get enough grain to keep from starving." And others said, "We're having to borrow money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards. Look: We're the same flesh and blood as our brothers here; our children are just as good as theirs. Yet here we are having to sell our children off as slaves—some of our daughters have already been sold—and we can't do anything about it because our fields and vineyards are owned by somebody else." I got really angry when I heard their protest and complaints. After thinking it over, I called the nobles and officials on the carpet. I said, "Each one of you is gouging his brother." Then I called a big meeting to deal with them. I told them, "We did everything we could to buy back our Jewish brothers who had to sell themselves as slaves to foreigners. And now you're selling these same brothers back into debt slavery! Does that mean that we have to buy them back again?" They said nothing. What could they say?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Micah,.... Within himself, pleased with what he had done, and with what he engaged in:

now know I that the Lord will do me good; that I shall enjoy his favour, be a happy man, and prosper; and by this it appears, that notwithstanding the idolatry he had fallen into, he had not utterly forsaken the Lord, but worshipped him in and by his images; there was a mixture of the worship of God, and of the worship of images:

seeing I have a Levite to my priest; who was of the same tribe the priests were, and so the nearest to them of any, and which he thought would be acceptable to God, and an omen of good to himself.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This shows the ignorance as well as the superstition of the age (compare 2 Kings 18:22), and gives a picture of the lawlessness of the times. The incidental testimony to the Levitical priesthood is to be noted; but the idolatrous worship in the immediate neighborhood of Shiloh is passing strange.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 17:13. Now know I that the Lord will do me good — As he had already provided an epitome of the tabernacle, a model of the ark, mercy-seat, and cherubim; and had got proper sacerdotal vestments, and a Levite to officiate; he took for granted that all was right, and that he should now have the benediction of God. Some think that he expected great gain from the concourse of the people to his temple; but of this there is no evidence in the text. Micah appears to have been perfectly sincere in all that he did.

I HAVE already remarked that there is no positive evidence that Micah or his mother intended to establish any idolatrous worship. Though they acted without any Divine command in what they did; yet they appear, not only to have been perfectly sincere, but also perfectly disinterested. They put themselves to considerable expense to erect this place of worship, and to maintain, at their own proper charges, a priest to officiate there; and without this the place, in all probability, would have been destitute of the worship and knowledge of the true God. His sincerity, disinterestedness, and attachment to the worship of the God of his fathers, are farther seen in the joy which he expressed on finding a Levite who might legally officiate in his house. It is true, he had not a Divine warrant for what he did; but the state of the land, the profligacy of his countrymen, his distance from Shiloh, &c., considered, he appears to deserve more praise than blame, though of the latter he has received a most liberal share from every quarter. This proceeds from that often-noticed propensity in man to take every thing which concerns the character of another by the worst handle. It cannot be considered any particular crime, should these notes be found at any time leaning to the other side.


 
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