1 Kings 13
1 Then a man of God came from Judah by the order of the Lord to Beth-el, where Jeroboam was by the altar, burning offerings.
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 by the order of the Lord he made an outcry against the altar, saying, O altar, altar, the Lord has said, From the seed of David will come a child, named Josiah, and on you he will put to death the priests of the high places, who are burning offerings on you, and men's bones will be burned on 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 The same day he gave them a sign, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has given: See, the altar will be broken and the burned waste on it overturned.
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 Then the king, hearing the man of God crying out against the altar at Beth-el, put out his hand from the altar, saying, Take him prisoner. And his hand, stretched out against him, became dead, and he had no power of pulling 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 broken and the burned waste on it overturned; this was the sign which 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 made answer and said to the man of God, Make a prayer now for the grace of the Lord your God, and for me, that my hand may be made well. And in answer to the prayer of the man of God, the king's hand was made well again, 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 And the king said to the man of God, Come with me to my house for food and rest, 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 said to the king, Even if you gave me half of all you have, I would not go in with you, and I would not take food or a drink of 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 so I was ordered by the word of the Lord, who said, You are not to take food or a drink of water, and you are not to go back 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 he went another way, and not by the way he came to Beth-el.
So he went by another way, and returned not by the way on which he was come to Beth-el.
11 Now there was an old prophet living in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and gave him word of all the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and they gave their father an account of the words he had said 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 Then their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone.
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, Make ready an ass for me. So they made an ass ready, and he got on 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, and came up with him while he was seated under an oak-tree. And he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am.
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 Then he said to him, Come back to the house with me and have a meal.
Then said he unto him, Come with me home, and eat bread.
16 But he said, I may not go back with you or go into your house; and I will not take food or a drink of 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 the Lord said to me, You are not to take food or water there, or go back again 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 he said to him, I am a prophet like you; and an angel said to me by the word of the Lord, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he said false words 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 So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water.
So he returned with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
20 But while they were seated at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had taken 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 crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said, The Lord says, Because you have gone against the voice of the Lord, and have not done as you were ordered by the Lord,
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 have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with 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 Now after the meal he made ready the ass for him, for the prophet whom he had taken back.
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 And he went on his way; but on the road a lion came rushing at him and put him to death; and his dead body was stretched in the road with the ass by its side, and the lion was there by the body.
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 some men, going by, saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side; and they came and gave news of it in the town where the old prophet was living.
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 Then the prophet who had made him come back, hearing it, said, It is the man of God, who went against the word of the Lord; that is why the Lord has given him to the lion to be wounded to death, as the Lord said.
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 And he said to his sons, Make ready the ass for me. And they did so.
And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
28 And he went and saw the dead body stretched out in the road with the ass and the lion by its side: the lion had not taken the body for its food or done any damage to the ass.
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 Then the prophet took up the body of the man of God and put it on the ass and took it back; and he came to the town to put the body to rest with weeping.
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 And he put the body in the resting-place made ready for himself, weeping and sorrowing over it, saying, O my brother!
And he laid his corpse in his own sepulchre; and they lamented over him, “Alas, my brother!”
31 And when he had put it to rest, he said to his sons, When I am dead, then you are to put my body into the earth with the body of this man of God, and put me by his bones so that my bones may be kept safe with 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 outcry he made by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el and against all the houses of the high places in the towns of Samaria, will certainly come about.
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 After this Jeroboam, not turning back from his evil ways, still made priests for his altars from among all the people; he made a priest of anyone desiring it, so that there might be priests 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 became a sin in the family of Jeroboam, causing it to be cut off and sent to 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.
