I Kings 13
13
The Message of the Man of God
1And behold, #2 Kin. 23:17a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, #1 Kin. 12:32, 33and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, #2 Kin. 23:15, 16Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be #(Lev. 26:30)burned on you.’ ” 3And he gave #Ex. 4:1–5; Judg. 6:17; Is. 7:14; 38:7; John 2:18; 1 Cor. 1:22a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”
4So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 6Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please #Ex. 8:8; 9:28; 10:17; Num. 21:7; Jer. 37:3; Acts 8:24; (James 5:16)entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”
So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. 7Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and #1 Sam. 9:7; 2 Kin. 5:15I will give you a reward.”
8But the man of God said to the king, #Num. 22:18; 24:13; 1 Kin. 13:16, 17“If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, #(1 Cor. 5:11)‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” 10So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.
Death of the Man of God
11Now an #1 Kin. 13:25old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 13Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, 14and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16And he said, #1 Kin. 13:8, 9“I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17For I have been told #1 Kin. 20:35; 1 Thess. 4:15by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”
18He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)
19So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
20Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, 22but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the #1 Kin. 13:9place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”
23So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. 24When he was gone, #1 Kin. 20:36a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 25And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” 27And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. 28Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. 29And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. 30Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, #Jer. 22:18“Alas, my brother!” 31So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; #Ruth 1:17; 2 Kin. 23:17, 18lay my bones beside his bones. 32#1 Kin. 13:2; 2 Kin. 23:16, 19For the saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of #1 Kin. 16:24; John 4:5; Acts 8:14Samaria, will surely come to pass.”
33#1 Kin. 12:31, 32; 2 Chr. 11:15; 13:9After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34#1 Kin. 12:30; 2 Kin. 17:21And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as #(1 Kin. 14:10; 15:29, 30)to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.
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I Kings 13: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 13
13
The Man of God From Judah
1#2Ki 23:17; 1Ki 12:22A man of God came out of Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord while Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2He cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘A child named Josiah will be born in the house of David, and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and these men’s bones shall be burned upon you.’ ” 3#1Co 1:22; Ex 4:3–5He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘The altar will be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it will be poured out.’ ”
4When King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who had cried against the altar in Bethel, he reached out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” And the hand that he put forth against him dried up so that he could not pull it back in again. 5The altar also was torn, and the ashes poured out from the altar, just as the man of God had said it would as a sign of the Lord.
6#Ex 8:8; 9:28The king answered and said to the man of God, “Seek the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand will be healed.” And the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was healed and became as it was before.
7#2Ki 5:15; 1Sa 9:7–8The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8#Nu 22:18; 24:13The man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, 9for so I was commanded by the word of the Lord, saying: You shall eat no bread, nor drink water nor return by the same way that you came.” 10So he went another way and did not return by the same way he came to Bethel.
11#2Ki 23:18Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that he had spoken to the king. 12Their father said to them, “What way did he go?” For his sons had seen the way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it. 14He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16#1Ki 13:8–9He said, “I may not return with you or go in with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, 17#1Ki 20:35; 1Th 4:15for I was commanded by the word of the Lord: You shall eat no bread and drink no water there nor return by the way you came.”
18#Mt 7:15; 1Jn 4:1He said to him, “I am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” But he had lied to him. 19So he went back with him to his house and ate bread and drank water.
20Then as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who brought him back, 21and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Since you have disobeyed the mouth of the Lord and have not kept the commandment that the Lord your God commanded you, 22but instead came back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord told you to eat no bread and drink no water, your carcass will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers!”
23After he had eaten bread and had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24#1Ki 20:36As he was going, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, and both the donkey and lion stood by it. 25Some men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road with the lion standing by the body, and they came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.
26When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord, and thus the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn and slain him, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke to him.”
27He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they saddled it. 28He then went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion were still standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29The prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on his donkey and brought it back. The old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. 30#Jer 22:18He laid his body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”
31And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32#1Ki 13:2; 16:24For the saying that he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”
33#2Ch 11:15; 13:9After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. 34#1Ki 12:30; 14:10This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
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