Kings III 13
1 And behold, there came a man of God out of Juda by the word of the Lord to Baethel, and Jeroboam stood at the altar to sacrifice.
One day a prophet, obeying what Yahweh commanded him to do, went from Judah [north] to Bethel. He arrived there right at the time that Jeroboam was standing at the altar, ready to burn incense.
2 And he cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a son is [to be] born to the house of David, Josias by name; and he shall offer upon thee the priests of the high places, [even] of them that sacrifice upon thee, and [he] shall burn men's bones upon thee.
Saying what Yahweh told him to say, the prophet shouted, “This is what Yahweh says [about this] altar [APO]: ‘I want you to know that [some day] a descendant [MTY] of King David will be born. His name will be Josiah, and he will come here. He will slaughter at this altar the priests who are burning incense for sacrifices on the hills [in this area], and he will burn the bones of dead people on this altar.’” [APO]
3 And in that day one shall give a sign, saying, This [is] the word which the Lord has spoken, saying, Behold, the altar is rent, and the fatness upon it shall be poured out.
Then the prophet also said, “This is what will prove to you that Yahweh has said this: This altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be scattered.’”
4 And it came to pass when king Jeroboam heard the words of the man of God who called on the altar that was in Baethel, that the king stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying, Take hold of him. And, behold, his hand, which he stretched forth against him, withered, and he could not draw it back to himself.
When King Jeroboam heard the prophet say that, he pointed his finger at him and said to his servants, “Seize that man!” But immediately the king’s arm became paralyzed/stiff, with the result that he could not move it.
5 And the altar was rent, and the fatness was poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God gave by the word of the Lord.
And the altar immediately split apart, and the ashes spilled out [on the ground], which is what the prophet said that Yahweh [MTY] had predicted would happen.
6 And king Jeroboam said to the man of God, Intreat the Lord thy God, and let my hand be restored to me. And the man of God intreated the Lord, and he restored the king's hand to him, and it became as before.
Then the king said to the prophet, “Please pray that Yahweh will be merciful to me and heal my arm!” So the prophet prayed, and Yahweh completely healed the king’s arm.
7 And the king said to the man of God, Enter with me into the house, and dine, and I will give thee a gift.
Then the king said to the prophet, “Come home with me and eat some food. And I will also give you a reward [for what you have done]!”
8 And the man of God said to the king, If thou shouldest give me the half of thine house, I would not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread, neither will I drink water in this place; for thus the Lord charged me by [his] word, saying,
But the prophet replied, “Even if you would [promise to] give me half of everything that you own [MTY], I will not go with you, and I will not eat or drink anything with you here,
9 Eat no bread, and drink no water, and return not by the way by which thou camest.
because Yahweh commanded me not to eat or drink anything here. He also commanded me not to return home on the road on which I came here.”
10 So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way by which he came to Baethel.
So he started to return home, but he did not go on the road on which he came to Bethel. He went on a different road.
11 And there dwelt an old prophet in Baethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God did on that day in Baethel, and the words which he spoke to the king: and they turned the face of their father.
At that time there was an old man living in Bethel who was a prophet. His sons came and told him what the prophet [from Judah] had done there on that day, and they also told him what the prophet had said to the king.
12 And their father spoke to them, saying, Which way went he? and his sons shew him the way by which the man of God who came out of Juda went up.
Their father said, “On which road did he go?” So his sons showed him the road on which the prophet from Judah had gone [when he left Bethel].
13 And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass: and they saddled him the ass, and he mounted it,
Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that, and he got on the donkey.
14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said to him, Art thou the man of God that came out of Juda? And he said to him, I [am].
He went along the road to (find/catch up with) the prophet from Judah. He found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the prophet who came from Judah?” He replied, “Yes, I am.”
15 And he said to him, Come with me, and eat bread.
The old prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.”
16 And he said, I shall not by any means be able to return with thee, neither will I eat bread, neither will I drink water in this place.
He replied, “No, I am not allowed to go with you into your house, or to eat or drink anything with you,
17 For thus the Lord commanded me by word, saying, Eat not bread there, and drink not water, and return not thither by the way by which thou camest.
because Yahweh told me, ‘Do not eat or drink anything here, and do not return home on the road on which you came.’”
18 And he said to him, I also am a prophet as thou [art]; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back to thee into thy house, and let him eat bread and drink water: but he lied to him.
Then the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, like you are. Yahweh sent an angel to tell me that I should take you home with me and give you some food and drink.” But the old man was lying [when he said that].
19 And he brought him back, and he ate bread and drank water in his house.
But because of what the old prophet said, the prophet from Judah returned with him to his home and ate some food and drank some water with him.
20 And it came to pass while they were sitting at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back;
While they were sitting at the table, Yahweh spoke to the old man.
21 and he spoke to the man of God that came out of Juda, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast resisted the word of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
Then he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You have disobeyed him, and you have not done what he commanded you to do.
22 but hast returned, and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he spoke to thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, and shalt not drink water; [therefore] thy body shall in nowise enter into the sepulchre of thy fathers.
Instead, you have come back here and had things to eat and drink in a place where he commanded you not to do that. As a result, you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in the grave where your ancestors are buried.’”
23 And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and drunk water, that he saddled the ass for him, and he turned and departed.
When they had finished eating, the old man put a saddle on the donkey for the prophet from Judah, [and the prophet from Judah left].
24 And a lion found him in the way, and slew him; and his body was cast out in the way, and the ass was standing by it, and the lion [also] was standing by the body.
But as he was going, a lion met him and killed him. The prophet’s corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was also standing beside the corpse.
25 And, behold, men [were] passing by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion was standing near the carcase: and they went in and spoke [of it] in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
Some men passed by and were surprised to see the corpse on the road and the lion standing next to the corpse. So they went into Bethel and reported what they had seen.
26 And [the prophet] that turned him back out of the way heard, and said, This is the man of God who rebelled against the word of the Lord.
When the old man who had brought the prophet from Judah to his home heard about it, he said, “That is the prophet who disobeyed what Yahweh told him to do! That is why Yahweh allowed the lion to attack him and kill him. That is what Yahweh said would happen!”
27 [And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass, and they saddled it. ]
Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that.
28 And he went and found the body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion were standing by the body: and the lion had not devoured the body of the man of God, and had not torn the ass.
Then he rode on the donkey and found the prophet’s corpse on the road, and his donkey and the lion were still standing there alongside the corpse. But the lion had not eaten any of the flesh of the prophet and had not attacked the donkey.
29 And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on his ass; and the prophet brought him back to his city, to bury him in his own tomb,
The old man picked up the corpse of the prophet and put it on his donkey and brought it back to Bethel, in order to mourn for him and to bury his corpse.
30 and they bewailed him, [saying], Alas, brother.
He buried the prophet’s corpse in the grave where other people in his family [had been buried]. Then he and his sons mourned for him, saying, “[We are very sorry], my brother!”
31 And it came to pass after he had lamented him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, Whenever I die, bury me in this tomb wherein the man of God is buried; lay me by his bones, that my bones may be preserved with his bones.
After they had buried him, the old man said to his sons, “When I die, bury my corpse in the grave where we buried the prophet from Judah. Lay my corpse next to his corpse.
32 For the word will surely come to pass which he spoke by the word of the Lord against the altar in Baethel, and against the high houses in Samaria.
[And do not forget what he said, because] the things that Yahweh told him to say about the altar in Bethel, and about the shrines on the hills in the towns in Samaria, will surely happen.”
33 And after this Jeroboam turned not from his sin, but he turned and made of part of the people priests of the [high places]: whoever would, he consecrated him, and he became a priest for the high places.
But King Jeroboam still did not turn away from continuing to do evil things. Instead, he appointed more priests [who were not descended from Levi]. Anyone who wanted to be a priest, he appointed to be a priest, in order that he could offer sacrifices on the hills.
34 And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to its destruction and its removal from the face of the earth.
Because he committed that sin, [a few years later] God got rid of most of Jeroboam’s descendants and did not allow them to become kings of Israel.
