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.
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 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;
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 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!
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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 prophet, “Come home with me and eat some food. And I will also give you a reward [for what you have done]!”
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 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 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.
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 another way, —and went not back by the way by which he came unto Bethel.
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 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.
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 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.
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 So he said unto his sons, Saddle for me, the ass. And they saddled for him the ass, and he rode thereon;
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 unto him—Art, thou, the man of God who came in out of Judah? And he said—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 Then said he unto him, Come home with me, —and eat bread.
The old prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.”
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;
He replied, “No, I am not allowed to go with you into your house, or to eat or drink anything with you,
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.
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, 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.
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 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
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 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;
While they were sitting at the table, Yahweh spoke to the old man.
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;
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 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 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 after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
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, 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 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 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 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, 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 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 spake unto his sons, saying, Saddle for me the ass. And they saddled it.
Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that.
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.
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 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 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 he laid his dead body in his own grave, —and they lamented over him, [saying] —Alas, my 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 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 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 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.
[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 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 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 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.
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.
