1 Ahemfo 13
1 Awurade hyɛɛ Onyame nipa bi ma ɔkɔɔ Bet-El, na oduu hɔ bere a na Yeroboam rekɔ afɔremuka no ho akɔbɔ afɔre.
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 Na ɔde Awurade nsɛm mu teɛɛ mu guu afɔremuka no so se, “Afɔremuka! Afɔremuka! Sɛnea Awurade se ni: ‘Wɔbɛwo ɔbabarima bi a wɔbɛto no din Yosia ato Dawid fi, na wo so na ɔde asɔfo a wofi nsɔree so ha a wɔhyew aduhuam ne nnipa nnompe no bɛbɔ afɔre!’”
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 Da no ara, Onyankopɔn nipa no yɛɛ nsɛnkyerɛnne, na ɔkae se, “Eyi ne nsɛnkyerɛnne a Awurade ada no adi. Afɔremuka no mu bɛpae abien, na nsõ a egu so no ahwie agu.”
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 Ɔhene Yeroboam bo fuw Onyame nipa yi sɛ wakasa atia afɔremuka yi. Enti ɔteɛɛ ne nsa wɔ ne so, teɛɛ mu se, “Monkyere no!” Nanso ne nsa a ɔteɛɛ wɔ ɔbarima no so no sinsenii a wantumi anyɛ ho hwee.
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 Na afɔremuka no mu paee abien, na nsõ a egu so no hwie gui, sɛnea nsɛnkyerɛnne a Onyankopɔn nipa nam Awurade nsɛm so daa no adi kyerɛɛ no.
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 Afei, ɔhene no srɛɛ Onyankopɔn nipa no se, “Srɛ Awurade, wo Nyankopɔn, ma me na me nsa no nya ahoɔden.” Enti Onyankopɔn nipa no srɛɛ Awurade maa no, na ɔhene no nsa nyaa ahoɔden ma ɛyɛɛ sɛnea na ɛte kan no.
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 Afei, ɔhene no ka kyerɛɛ Onyankopɔn nipa no se, “Ma yɛnkɔ fie, na kodidi, na mɛma wo akyɛde bi.”
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 Nanso Onyankopɔn nipa no buaa no se, “Mpo, sɛ wode wʼagyapade mu fa bɛkyɛ me koraa a, me ne wo renkɔ, na brodo nso, merenni na manom nsu wɔ ha.
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 Awurade asɛm so na wɔnam hyɛɛ me se, ‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ wudi brodo anaa wonom nsu wɔ hɔ. Afei, nsan mfa ɔkwan a wofaa so kɔɔ Bet-El no so.’”
The Lord ordered me not to eat or drink anything, and not to return by the way I came.”
10 Enti ofi Bet-El faa ɔkwan foforo so sɛ ɔrekɔ fie.
So he went a different way—he did not return the way he had come to Bethel.
11 Na ɛbaa sɛ na odiyifo akwakoraa bi te Bet-El. Ne mmabarima bɛkaa nea Onyankopɔn nipa no ayɛ wɔ Bet-El da no nyinaa kyerɛɛ no. Afei, wɔkaa asɛm a waka akyerɛ ɔhene no nyinaa kyerɛɛ wɔn agya no.
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 Odiyifo akwakoraa no bisaa wɔn se, “Na ɔfaa he?” Na ne mmabarima no kyerɛɛ no ɔkwan a Onyankopɔn nipa no faa so kɔe.
“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 Ɔka kyerɛɛ ne mmabarima no se, “Monhyehyɛ afurum no mma me ntɛm.” Na wɔhyehyɛɛ afurum no maa no no, ohuruw tenaa ne so
“Saddle up a donkey for me,” he told his sons. They saddled up a donkey and he got on.
14 tiw Onyankopɔn nipa no. Ɔkɔtoo no sɛ ɔte odum bi ase, na odiyifo akwakoraa no bisaa no se, “Wone Onyankopɔn nipa a wufi Yuda no ana?” Obuaa no se, “Yiw, ɛyɛ me.”
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 Afei, odiyifo no ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Ma yɛnkɔ fie, na kodidi.”
“Come home with me and have something to eat,” he told him.
16 Onyankopɔn nipa no ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Merentumi nsan mʼakyi. Minni ho kwan sɛ mididi anaa menom nsu wɔ ha.
“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 Awurade hyɛɛ me se, ‘Ɛnsɛ sɛ wudi aduan biara anaa wonom nsu bere a wowɔ hɔ, anaa wofa ɔkwan a wofaa so kɔɔ hɔ no so san wʼakyi.’”
“The Lord ordered me, saying ‘You must not eat or drink anything there, or return by the way you came.’”
18 Odiyifo akwakoraa no buae se, “Me nso, meyɛ odiyifo sɛ wo ara. Na ɔbɔfo bi kaa Awurade asɛm kyerɛɛ me se, ‘Fa no san bra wo fi, na ommedidi na ɔnnom nsu.’” Nanso na odiyifo akwakoraa no redaadaa no.
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 Enti Onyankopɔn nipa no ne no san kɔe, kodidi nomee wɔ ne fi.
So the man of God went back with him, and ate and drank in his house.
20 Bere a wɔte didipon ho redidi no, nkra fi Awurade nkyɛn baa odiyifo akwakoraa no so.
As they were sitting at the table, a message from the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.
21 Ɔteɛɛ mu guu Onyankopɔn nipa a ofi Yuda no so se, “Sɛɛ na Awurade ka: Woabu Awurade asɛm so, na woanni ahyɛde a Awurade, wo Nyankopɔn, hyɛɛ wo no so.
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 Wosan baa ha bedii aduan, nom nsu, nanso ɔka kyerɛɛ wo se nni hwee, nnom hwee. Esiane eyi nti, wɔrensie wʼamu wɔ wʼagyanom da mu.”
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 Na Onyankopɔn nipa no didi nom wiei no, odiyifo no hyehyɛɛ nʼafurum no maa no,
After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his own donkey for him.
24 na Onyankopɔn nipa no sii kwan so bio. Na ɔrekɔ no ara, gyata bi ba bekum no. Nʼamu no daa ɔkwan mu a, na afurum no ne gyata no gyinagyina ho.
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 Nnipa ba bɛtoo so sɛ amu no da ɔkwan mu a gyata no gyina ho. Enti wɔkɔbɔɔ amanneɛ wɔ Bet-El baabi a odiyifo akwakoraa no te hɔ.
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 Bere a odiyifo akwakoraa no tee asɛm no, ɔkae se, “Ɛyɛ Onyankopɔn nipa no a wanni Awurade ahyɛde so no. Awurade ama nʼasɛm no aba mu sɛ ɔmaa gyata tow hyɛɛ no so, kum no.”
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 Na odiyifo no ka kyerɛɛ ne mmabarima no se, “Monhyehyɛ afurum no mma me.” Na wɔhyehyɛɛ afurum no.
The prophet told his sons, “Saddle up a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey,
28 Ɔkɔ kohuu sɛ amu no da ɔkwan mu. Na afurum no ne gyata no da so gyinagyina ne ho, a gyata no nwee amu no, nto nhyɛɛ afurum no nso so.
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 Enti odiyifo no faa Onyankopɔn nipa no amu no de no too nʼafurum no so, san de no kɔɔ kurom, kosuu no, siee no.
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 Ɔde amu no too nʼankasa ne da mu, fii awerɛhow mu, suu no se, “Ao, me nua!”
He laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, crying, “My poor brother!”
31 Akyiri no, odiyifo no ka kyerɛɛ ne mmabarima no se, “Sɛ mewu a, munsie me wɔ ɔda a woasie Onyankopɔn nipa wɔ mu no mu. Momfa me nnompe ngu ne nnompe ho.
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 Na asɛm a Awurade ka kyerɛɛ no se ɔnka ntia afɔremuka a ɛwɔ Bet-El ne abosomfi no a ɛwowɔ Samaria nkurow so no, ɛbɛba mu.”
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 Nanso eyi akyi koraa no, Yeroboam annan ne ho amfi nʼakwammɔne no so. Ɔkɔɔ so yii asɔfo fi nnipa no mu. Obiara a ɔpɛ no, otumi yɛɛ ɔsɔfo wɔ abosomfi hɔ.
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 Eyi bɛyɛɛ bɔne kɛse, na ɛnam so sɛee Yeroboam ahemman, maa ne fifo nyinaa wuwui.
This was because of this sin that the house of Jeroboam was wiped out, completely destroyed from the face of the earth.
