< 1 Kings 13 >
1 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.
And lo! a man of God cam fro Juda, bi the word of the Lord, in to Bethel, while Jeroboam stood on the auter, `and castide encence.
2 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]
And `the man of God criede ayens the auter, bi the word of the Lord, and seide, Auter! auter! the Lord seith these thingis, Lo! a sone, Josias by name, shal be borun to the hows of Dauid; and he schal offre on thee the preestis of hiye thingis, that brennen now encensis yn thee, and he schal brenne the bonys of men on thee.
3 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.’”
And he yaf a signe in that dai, `and seide, This schal be `the signe that the Lord spak, Lo! the auter schal be kit, and the aische which is `there ynne, schal be sched out.
4 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.
And whanne the kyng hadde herd the word of the man of God, which word he hadde cried ayens the auter in Bethel, the kyng helde forth his hond fro the auter, and seide, Take ye hym. And his hond driede, which he hadde holde forth, and he myyte not drawe it ayen to hym silf.
5 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.
Also the auter was kit, and the aische was sched out of the auter, bi the signe which the man of God bifor seide, in the word of the Lord.
6 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.
And the kyng seide to the man of God, Biseche thou the face of thi Lord God, and preie thou for me, that myn hond be restorid to me. And the man of God preiede the face of God; and the hond of the king turnede ayen to hym, and it was maad as it was bifore.
7 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]!”
Sotheli the kyng spak to the man of God, Come thou hoom with me, that thou ete, and Y schal yyue yiftis to thee.
8 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,
And the man of God seide to the kyng, Thouy thou schalt yyue to me the half part of thin hows, Y schal not come with thee, nether Y schal ete breed, nether Y schal drynke watir in this place;
9 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.”
`for so it is comaundid to me bi the word of the Lord, comaundinge, Thou schalt not ete breed, nether thou schalt drynke water, nether thou schalt turne ayen bi the weie bi which thou camest.
10 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.
Therfor he yede bi another weie, and turnede not ayen bi the weie, bi which he cam in to Bethel.
11 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.
Forsothe sum elde profete dwellide in Bethel, to whom hise sones camen, and telden to hym alle the werkis whiche the man of God hadde do in that dai in Bethel; and thei telden to her fader the wordis whiche he spak to the kyng.
12 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].
And the fadir of hem seide to hem, Bi what weie yede he? Hise sones schewiden to hym the weie, bi which the man of God yede, that cam fro Juda.
13 Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that, and he got on the donkey.
And he seide to hise sones, Sadle ye an asse to me. And whanne thei hadden sadlid,
14 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.”
he stiede, and yede after the man of God, and foond hym sittyng vndur a terebynte. And he seide to the man of God, Whether thou art the man of God, that camest fro Juda? He answeride, Y am.
15 The old prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.”
And he seide to hym, Come thou with me hoom, that thou ete breed.
16 He replied, “No, I am not allowed to go with you into your house, or to eat or drink anything with you,
And he seide, Y may not turne ayen, nether come with thee, nether Y schal ete breed, nether Y schal drynke water in this place;
17 because Yahweh told me, ‘Do not eat or drink anything here, and do not return home on the road on which you came.’”
for the Lord spak to me in the word of the Lord, and seide, Thou schalt not ete breed, and thou schalt not drynke water there, nether thou schalt turne ayen bi the weie bi which thou yedist.
18 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].
Which seide to hym, And Y am a profete lijk thee; and an aungel spak to me bi the word of the Lord, and seide, Lede ayen hym in to thin hows, that he ete breed, and drynke watir. He disseyuede the man of God,
19 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.
and brouyte him ayen with hym. Therfor he ete breed in his hows, and drank watir.
20 While they were sitting at the table, Yahweh spoke to the old man.
And whanne he sat at the table, the word of the Lord was maad to the prophete that brouyte hym ayen;
21 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.
and he criede to the man of God that cam fro Juda, and seide, The Lord seith these thingis, For thou obeidist not to the mouth of the Lord, and keptist not the comaundement which thi Lord God comaundide to thee,
22 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.’”
and thou turnedist ayen, and etist breed, and drankist watir in the place in which Y comaundide to thee, that thou schuldist not ete breed, nether schuldist drynke watir, thi deed bodi schal not be borun in to the sepulcre of thi fadris.
23 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].
And whanne he hadde ete and drunke, the prophete, whom he hadde brouyt ayen, sadlide his asse.
24 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.
And whanne he hadde go, a lioun foond hym in the weye, and killide hym. And his deed bodi was cast forth in the weie; sotheli the asse stood bisydis hym, and the lioun stood bisidis the deed bodi.
25 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.
And lo! men passynge sien the deed bodi cast forth in the weye, and the lyoun stondynge bisidis the deed bodi; and thei camen, and pupplischiden in the citee, in which thilke eeld prophete dwellide.
26 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!”
And whanne thilke prophete, that brouyte hym ayen fro the weye, hadde herd this, he seide, It is the man of God, that was vnobedient to the mouth of God; and the Lord bitook hym to the lioun, that brak hym, and killide hym, bi the word of the Lord which he spak to hym.
27 Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that.
And he seide to hise sones, Sadle ye an asse to me.
28 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.
And whanne thei hadden sadlid, and he hadde go, he foond his deed bodi cast forth in the weie, and the asse and the lioun stondinge bisidis the deed bodi; and the lioun eet not the deed bodi, nether hirtide the asse.
29 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.
Therfor the profete took the deed bodi of the man of God, and puttide it on the asse; and he turnede ayen, and brouyte it in to the cyte of the eeld prophete, that he schulde biweile hym.
30 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!”
And he puttide his deed bodi in his sepulcre, and thei biweiliden him, Alas! alas! my brother!
31 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.
And whanne thei hadden biweilid hym, he seide to hise sones, Whanne Y schal be deed, birie ye me in the sepulcre, in which the man of God is biried; putte ye my bonys bisidis hise bonys.
32 [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.”
For sotheli the word schal come, which he bifor seide in the word of the Lord, ayens the auter which is in Bethel, and ayens alle the templis of hiy placis, that ben in the citees of Samarie.
33 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.
After these wordis Jeroboam turnede not ayen fro his werste weie, but ayenward of the laste puplis he made preestis of hiye places; who euer wolde, fillide his hond, and he was maad preest of hiy placis.
34 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.
And for this cause the hows of Jeroboam synnede, and it was distried, and doon awey fro the face of erthe.