1 Kings 13
1 Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.
And behold, by the word of the Lord, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing over the altar, and burning incense.
2 And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”
And by the word of the Lord, he cried out against the altar. And he said: “O altar, O altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. And upon you, he will immolate the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon you. And upon you, he will burn up the bones of men.’”
3 That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’”
And he gave a sign on the same day, saying: “This will be the sign that the Lord has spoken. Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.”
4 Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, he extended his hand from the altar, saying, “Apprehend him!” But his hand, which he had extended against him, withered. And he was unable to draw it back to himself.
5 And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
Also, the altar was torn apart, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, in accord with the sign that the man of God had predicted by the word of the Lord.
6 Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.
And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God prayed before the face of the Lord, and the hand of the king was restored to him, and it became as it had been before.
7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home with me, so that you may dine. And I will give you gifts.”
8 But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.
And the man of God responded to the king: “Even if you will give me one half part of your house, I will not go with you, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place.
9 For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”
For so it was commanded to me by the word of the Lord, ordering: ‘You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water, nor shall you return by the way that you came.’”
10 So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
Then he departed by another way, and he did not return along the way that he had traveled to Bethel.
11 Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king.
Now a certain elderly prophet was living in Bethel. His sons went to him, and they described to him all the works which the man of God had accomplished on that day in Bethel. And they described to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.
12 “Which way did he go?” their father asked. And his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God, who had come from Judah.
And their father said to them, “By which way did he depart?” His sons showed him the way by which the man of God, who had come from Judah, had departed.
13 So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it
And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it, he climbed on,
14 and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied.
and he went away after the man of God. And he found him sitting under a terebinth tree. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he responded, “I am.”
15 So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.”
And he said to him, “Come home with me, so that you may eat bread.”
16 But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
But he said: “I am not able to turn back, nor to go with you. Neither will I eat bread, or drink water in this place.
17 For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”
For the Lord has spoken to me, by the word of the Lord, saying, “You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water in that place, nor shall you return by the way that you arrived.”
18 Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” The old prophet was lying to him,
And he said to him: “I, too, am a prophet like you. And an Angel spoke to me, by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Lead him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread, and drink water.’” And so he deceived him.
19 but the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.
And he led him back with him. Then he ate bread and drank water in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back,
And while they were sitting at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had led him back.
21 and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you,
And he cried out to the man of God who had arrived from Judah, saying: “Thus says the Lord: Because you were not obedient to the mouth of the Lord, and you did not keep the commandment that the Lord your God instructed to you,
22 but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to do so, your body shall never reach the tomb of your fathers.’”
and you turned back, and ate bread, and drank water in the place where he commanded you that you should not eat bread, nor drink water: your dead body shall not be carried back to the sepulcher of your fathers.”
23 And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him.
And when he had eaten and had drunk, he saddled his donkey for the prophet whom he had led back.
24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
And when he had departed, a lion found him along the way, and it killed him, and his dead body was left upon the road. Now the donkey was standing beside him. And the lion was standing beside the dead body.
25 And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived.
And behold, men who were passing by saw the dead body lying in the road, with the lion standing beside the body. And they went and made it widely known in the city where that elderly prophet was living.
26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him.”
And when that prophet, who had led him back from the way, had heard it, he said: “It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord. And the Lord has delivered him to the lion. And it has torn him apart and killed him, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.”
27 Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it,
And he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it,
28 and he went and found the body lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or mauled the donkey.
and he had departed, he found the dead body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the dead body. The lion did not eat from the dead body, nor did it harm the donkey.
29 So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him.
Then the prophet took the dead body of the man of God, and he placed it upon the donkey, and returning, he brought it into the city of the elderly prophet, so that he might mourn for him.
30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!”
And he placed his dead body in his own sepulcher. And they mourned for him, saying: “Alas! Alas! My brother!”
31 After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones,
And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: “When I will have died, bury me in the sepulcher in which the man of God was buried. Place my bones beside his bones.
32 for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”
For certainly, the word will arrive, which he predicted by the word of the Lord, against the altar, which is in Bethel, and against all the shrines of the high places, which are in the cities of Samaria.”
33 Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places.
After these words, Jeroboam did not turn back from his very evil way. Instead, to the contrary, he made priests for the high places out of the least of the people. Whosoever was willing, he filled his hand, and he became a priest of the high places.
34 And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.
And for this reason, the house of Jeroboam sinned, and was uprooted, and was wiped from the face of the earth.
