Os ídolos do Mica
1Nas colinas de Efraim vivia um homem chamado Mica. 2Um dia, disse para a mãe: “Aquelas 1100 peças de dinheiro que julgas terem sido roubadas, tendo amaldiçoado o ladrão, fui eu quem as tirou!”
A mãe exclamou: “Que o Senhor te abençoe, meu filho, por teres confessado tal coisa!” 3E ele devolveu-lhe o dinheiro. “Eu quero dar este dinheiro ao Senhor, para que seja contado a teu favor”, declarou ela. “Vou mandar esculpir uma imagem e cobri-la de prata.”
4A mãe pegou então em 200 peças de dinheiro e levou-as a um ourives que fez um ídolo que ela colocou num nicho em sua casa.
5Mica já tinha uma coleção de ídolos, além de um éfode e alguns terafins, e designou um dos seus próprios filhos como sacerdote. 6Porque naqueles dias Israel não tinha rei, de forma que cada qual fazia o que melhor parecia aos seus olhos.
7Entretanto, houve um levita da cidade de Belém de Judá 8que chegou àquela região de Efraim, procurando um lugar onde se instalasse para viver. Aconteceu passar pela casa de Mica. 9“Donde vens?”, perguntou-lhe Mica.
“Sou levita, de Belém de Judá, e procuro um lugar para viver.”
10-11“Fica aqui comigo. Serás o meu sacerdote e conselheiro. Dou-te 115 gramas de prata por ano, mais roupa para te vestires e a alimentação, além de um quarto.” 12O jovem aceitou e ficou a viver com Mica. Este consagrou-o como seu sacerdote pessoal. 13“Agora tenho a certeza de que o Senhor me abençoará”, exclamou Mica, “porque tenho um levita como sacerdote!”
Micah’s False Gods
1A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He said to his mother, “Someone took 28 pounds of silver from you. I heard you curse the one who took it. I have the silver with me. I’m the one who took it.”
Then his mother said, “My son, may the Lord bless you!”
3He gave the 28 pounds of silver back to his mother. She said to him, “I’m making a promise to set apart my silver to the Lord. My son, I want you to use it to cover a statue of a god made out of wood or stone. That’s why I’ll give the silver back to you.”
4Micah gave the silver back to his mother. Then she gave five pounds of it to a skilled worker who made things out of silver. He used the silver for the statue. The statue was put in Micah’s house.
5That same Micah had a small temple. He made a sacred linen apron and some statues of his family gods. He appointed one of his sons to serve as his priest. 6In those days Israel didn’t have a king. The people did anything they thought was right.
7A young Levite had been living in land that belonged to the tribe of Judah. He was from Bethlehem in Judah. 8He left that town to look for some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house. It was in the hill country of Ephraim.
9Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
“I’m a Levite,” he said. “I’m from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10Then Micah said to him, “Live with me. Be my father and priest. I’ll give you four ounces of silver a year. I’ll also give you clothes and food.” 11So the Levite agreed to live with him. The young man became just like one of Micah’s sons to him. 12Then Micah appointed the Levite to serve as his priest. He lived in Micah’s house. 13Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me. This Levite has become my priest.”
