1 Kings 13
1 And lo! a man of God, came in out of Judah, by the word of Yahweh, unto Bethel, —as Jeroboam was standing by the altar, to make a perfume.
The Lord ordered a man of God from Judah to go to Bethel. He arrived just as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar about to present a burnt offering.
2 And he made proclamation against the altar, by the word of Yahweh, and said, O altar! altar! Thus, saith Yahweh, —Lo! a son to be born unto the house of David, Josiah his name, who shall sacrifice upon thee the priests of the high-places, who are making a perfume upon thee, and, human bones, shall be burned upon thee;
He shouted out the Lord's condemnation of the altar: “Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says. A son will be born to the house of David. His name will be Josiah, and on you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn offerings on you, and human bones will be burned on you.”
3 and he shall give, on that day, a sign, saying, This, is the sign of which Yahweh hath spoken, —Lo! the altar, is to be rent, and the ashes that are upon thee shall be, poured out!
The same day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “This is the sign to prove that the Lord has spoken. Look! The altar will be split apart, and the ashes on it will spill out.”
4 And it came to pass, when the king heard the word of the man of God which he proclaimed against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam thrust forth his hand, from off the altar, saying—Lay hold of him! and his hand which he had thrust forth against him was dried up, that he could not draw it back to him.
When King Jeroboam heard the condemnation the man of God had shouted out against the altar in Bethel, he pointed his hand at him and said, “Arrest him!” But the hand the king had pointed at him had become paralyzed and he couldn't draw it back.
5 Moreover, the altar, was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, —according to the sign which the man of God had given, by the word of Yahweh.
The altar split apart, and the ashes spilled out from it, fulfilling the sign that the man of God had given from the Lord.
6 Then responded the king and said unto the man of God—Appease, I pray thee, the face of Yahweh thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored unto me. So the man of God appeased the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king was restored unto him, and became as aforetime.
Then the king said to the man of God, “Please plead with the Lord your God—pray for me that I may have my hand back!” The man of God pleaded with the Lord, and the king was given back the use of his hand as it was before.
7 Then spake the king unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, —and let me give thee a present.
Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to my home and have a meal so I can give you a present.”
8 But the man of God said unto the king—If thou wouldst give me the half of thy house, I would not go in with thee, —neither would I eat bread or drink water, in this place;
But the man of God told the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I still wouldn't go with you. In fact I refuse to eat or drink anything in this place.
9 for, so, he charged me, by the word of Yahweh, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor shalt thou drink water, —neither shalt thou come back by the way thou wentest.
The Lord ordered me not to eat or drink anything, and not to return by the way I came.”
10 So he departed another way, —and went not back by the way by which he came unto Bethel.
So he went a different way—he did not return the way he had come to Bethel.
11 But, a certain aged prophet, was dwelling in Bethel, —whose sons came in and related to him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel—and the words which he had spoken unto the king, and they related them to their father.
It so happened that an old prophet lived in Bethel. His sons came and told him everything the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father what the man had said to the king.
12 And their father said unto them, Which way then went he? Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God went who had come in out of Judah.
“Which way did he go?” their father asked them. So his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God from Judah.
13 So he said unto his sons, Saddle for me, the ass. And they saddled for him the ass, and he rode thereon;
“Saddle up a donkey for me,” he told his sons. They saddled up a donkey and he got on.
14 and went after the man of God, and found him, sitting under an oak. And he said unto him—Art, thou, the man of God who came in out of Judah? And he said—I am.
He rode after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” he asked him. “Yes I am,” the man replied.
15 Then said he unto him, Come home with me, —and eat bread.
“Come home with me and have something to eat,” he told him.
16 And he said—I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee, —neither will I eat bread or drink water with thee, in this place;
“I can't turn around and go with you, and I won't eat or drink with you in this place,” the man of God replied.
17 for there came a message unto me by the word of Yahweh, Thou shalt neither eat bread, nor drink water there, —thou shalt not turn back to come by the way by which thou wentest.
“The Lord ordered me, saying ‘You must not eat or drink anything there, or return by the way you came.’”
18 And he said to him-I also, am a prophet, like unto thee, and, a messenger, hath spoken unto me, by the word of Yahweh, saying—Bring him back with thee, into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him.
But the old prophet told him, “I am also a prophet, just like you. An angel told me God said, ‘Take him home with you so that he can have something to eat and drink’” But he was lying to him.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
So the man of God went back with him, and ate and drank in his house.
20 And so it was, as, they, were sitting at the table, yea, so it was, that the word of Yahweh came unto the prophet who had brought him back;
As they were sitting at the table, a message from the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.
21 and he cried out unto the man of God who had come in out of Judah, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh, —Forasmuch as thou hast rebelled against the bidding of Yahweh, and hast not kept the commandment which Yahweh thy God commanded thee;
He called out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not followed the orders that the Lord your God gave you,
22 but hast returned, and eaten bread and drunk water, in the place of which he said unto thee, Thou mayest neither eat bread nor drink water: thy dead body shall not enter the burying-place of thy fathers.
instead you went back and ate and drank in the place where he told you not to, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.”
23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his own donkey for him.
24 And, when he had gone, there met him a lion by the way, and slew him, —and his dead body was cast out in the way, and, the ass, was standing near it, and, the lion, was standing near the dead body.
But as he went on his way a lion came across him on the road and killed him. His body was left lying in the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
25 And lo! certain men, passing by, saw the dead body, cast out in the way, and the lion standing near the dead body, —so they came in, and spake [of it] in the city, wherein, the aged prophet, dwelt.
Some passers-by saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, so they went and let people know about it in the town where the old prophet lived.
26 And, when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said—The man of God, it is, who rebelled against the bidding of Yahweh, —therefore did Yahweh deliver him unto the lion, and it hath torn him and slain him, according to the word of Yahweh which he spake unto him.
When the old prophet who had led the other astray heard what had happened, he said, “It's the man of God who disobeyed the Lord's orders. That's why the Lord put him in the path of the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, just as the Lord told him would happen.”
27 And he spake unto his sons, saying, Saddle for me the ass. And they saddled it.
The prophet told his sons, “Saddle up a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey,
28 So he went and found his dead body, cast out in the way, with, the ass and the lion, standing near the dead body, —the lion had neither eaten the dead body, nor had it torn the ass.
and he went and found the body. It was still lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey.
29 And the prophet took up the dead body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back, —and the aged prophet came into the city, to make lamentation, and to bury him.
The prophet picked up the body of the man of God, placed it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own town to mourn over him and bury him.
30 And he laid his dead body in his own grave, —and they lamented over him, [saying] —Alas, my brother!
He laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, crying, “My poor brother!”
31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake unto his sons, saying, When I die, then shall ye bury me in the grave wherein the man of God is buried; beside his bones, lay my bones;
After he'd buried him, he told his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
32 For the message which he proclaimed, by the ward of Yahweh, against the altar which is in Bethel, —and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
For the message from the Lord that he gave in condemnation against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria, will definitely happen.”
33 After this thing, Jeroboam turned not from his wicked way, —but again made, from the whole compass of the people, priests of high places, whomsoever he would, he installed, and he became priest of high places.
But even after all this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways. He went on choosing priests from all kinds of people. He appointed anyone who wanted to be a priest of the high places.
34 And so this thing became the sin of the house of Jeroboam, —that it should be both taken away and destroyed, from off the face of the ground.
This was because of this sin that the house of Jeroboam was wiped out, completely destroyed from the face of the earth.
