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, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: while Jerobo'am was standing upon the altar to burn 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 he called out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and he said, O altar, altar, thus hath said the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice upon thee the priests of the high-places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
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 on the same day a token, saying, This is the token that the Lord hath spoken, Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes which are upon it shall be spilled about.
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 it came to pass, when the king heard the word of the man of God, which he had called out against the altar in Beth-el, that Jerobo'am stretched forth his hand from off the altar, saying, Seize him. And his hand, which he had put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not 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.
The altar also was rent, and the ashes were spilled about from the altar, according to the token which the man of God had given 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 commenced and said unto the man of God, Offer but entreaty before the Lord thy God, and pray in behalf of me, that my hand may return to me again. And the man of God offered his entreaty before the Lord, and the king's hand returned to him again, and became as it was 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.”
And the king spoke unto the man of God, Come home with me, and take some refreshment, and I will give thee a present.
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.
But the man of God said unto the king, If thou wert to give me the half of thy house, I would not go in with thee, neither would I 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 was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that thou camest.
10 So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
So he went by another way, and returned not by the way on which he was come to Beth-el.
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 there dwelt a certain old prophet in Beth-el; and his son came and told him all the deed that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words [also] which he had spoken unto the king, these too they told to their father.
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 spoke unto them, What way did he go? His sons however had seen what way had gone the man of God, who had come from Judah.
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 unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode away thereon,
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 after the man of God, and found him sitting under the oak; and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
15 So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.”
Then said he unto him, Come with me home, and eat bread.
16 But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
And he said, I cannot return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee 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 a command came to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt not eat bread nor drink water there; thou shalt not return to go by the way [also] by which thou camest.
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 unto him, I also am a prophet like thee; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee unto thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
19 but the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.
So he returned with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back,
And it came to pass, as they were sitting at the table, That the word of the Lord came unto the prophet who had brought 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 called unto the man of God that was come from Judah, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the order of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God had commanded thee;
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.’”
But didst return, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of which he had spoken to thee, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water: thy dead body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy 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 it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, [to wit, ] for the prophet whom he had brought 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 was gone, a lion met him on the way, and slew him; and his corpse remained cast down on the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the corpse.
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 passed by, and saw the corpse cast down on the way, and the lion standing by the corpse; and they came and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
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 the prophet that had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the order of the Lord; wherefore the Lord hath given him up unto the lion, who hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him.
27 Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it,
And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
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 went and found his corpse cast down on the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the corpse: the lion had not eaten the corpse, nor torn the ass.
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.
And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to lament for, and to bury him.
30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!”
And he laid his corpse in his own sepulchre; and they lamented over him, “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 it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; beside his bones lay ye my 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 the thing which he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar which is in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high-places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.
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 this event Jerobo'am returned not from his evil way; but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high-places: whosoever desired it, he consecrated, that he might become one of the priests 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 he became through this thing the cause of sin unto the house of Jerobo'am, and to cause that it was blotted out, and destroyed from off the face of the earth.
