13:1 By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.
13:2 He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’”
13:3 That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
13:4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back.
13:5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.
13:6 Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
13:7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
13:8 But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here.
13:9 For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”
13:10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
13:11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king.
13:12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken.
13:13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it
13:14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied.
13:15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”
13:16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
13:17 I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”
13:18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.)
13:19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back.
13:21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you.
13:22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.’”
13:23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.
13:24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
13:25 Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
13:26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him.”
13:27 The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so.
13:28 Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.
13:29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him.
13:30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Oh, my brother!”
13:31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
13:32 For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”
13:33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places.
13:34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
13:1 And at that moment there came a man of God from Judah by the word of Jehovah to Bethel while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to burn incense.
13:2 And he cried out against the altar by the word of Jehovah and said, Altar, O altar, thus says Jehovah: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men s bones will they burn upon you.
13:3 And he gave a sign that day, saying, This is the sign that Jehovah has spoken: The altar here will be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it will be poured out.
13:4 And when the king heard the word of the man of God that he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from over the altar, saying, Lay hold of him! And his hand, which he had stretched out against him, withered, and he could not draw it back to himself.
13:5 And the altar was torn apart, and the ashes were poured forth from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Jehovah.
13:6 And the king responded and said to the man of God, Entreat Jehovah your God, I beg you, and intercede for me that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God entreated Jehovah, and the king s hand was restored to him as it had been formerly.
13:7 Then the king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and have something to eat; and I will give you a gift.
13:8 But the man of God said to the king, If you gave me half your household, I would not go with you; and I will not eat food nor drink water in this place;
13:9 For thus was I commanded by the word of Jehovah, saying, You shall not eat food nor drink water, nor shall you return by the way that you came.
13:10 So he went by another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
13:11 Now there was a certain old prophet dwelling in Bethel. And his sons came and related to him all the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words that he had spoken to the king, they also related to their father.
13:12 And their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had seen which way the man of God, who came from Judah, had gone.
13:13 And he said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it.
13:14 And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under a terebinth. And he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am.
13:15 And he said to him, Come home with me, and eat some food.
13:16 But he said, I cannot return with you and go with you; neither will I eat food nor drink water with you in this place.
13:17 For I was told by the word of Jehovah, You shall not eat food nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going on the way that you came there.
13:18 And the old man said, I also am a prophet like you, and an angel has spoken to me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with you to your house that he may eat food and drink water. He lied to him.
13:19 So he returned with him and ate food in his house and drank water.
13:20 And while they were sitting at the table, the word of Jehovah came to the prophet who brought him back;
13:21 And he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus says Jehovah, Because you have rebelled against the word of Jehovah and did not keep the command that Jehovah your God commanded you,
13:22 But returned and ate food and drank water in the place concerning which He said to you, Do not eat food and do not drink water; your corpse shall not come to the grave of your fathers.
13:23 And after he had eaten food and had drunk water, the old man saddled the donkey for him, that is, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
13:24 And as he went, a lion met him on the way and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion stood beside the corpse also.
13:25 And some men soon passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road and the lion standing beside the corpse, and they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
13:26 And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, It is the man of God, who rebelled against the word of Jehovah; and Jehovah has given him to the lion, which tore him apart and killed him, according to the word of Jehovah which He spoke to him.
13:27 Then he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle the donkey for me; and they saddled it.
13:28 And he went and found his corpse thrown on the road and the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse; the lion had not eaten the corpse, nor had it torn the donkey apart.
13:29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back; and it was brought to the city of the old prophet for mourning and for burial.
13:30 And he laid his corpse in his own grave and mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
13:31 And after he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; beside his bones lay my bones.
13:32 For the word that he cried out by the word of Jehovah against the altar that is in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.
13:33 After this matter Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he again made priests for the high places from among the people; whoever desired it, he consecrated to be priests of the high places.
13:34 And this matter became a sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as even to cut it off and destroy it from the face of the earth.