1 Kings 13
13
A Prophet Denounces Jeroboam
1At the Lord’s command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense. 2Then at the Lord’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.” 3That same day the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said, “The Lord has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground.”
4When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back. 5At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord.
6The king cried out to the man of God, “Please ask the Lord your God to restore my hand again!” So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and he could move it again.
7Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
8But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything in this place. 9For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’” 10So he left Bethel and went home another way.
11As it happened, there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons#13:11 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads son. came home and told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king. 12The old prophet asked them, “Which way did he go?” So they showed their father#13:12 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads They had seen. which road the man of God had taken. 13“Quick, saddle the donkey,” the old man said. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.
14Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under a great tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“Yes, I am,” he replied.
15Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some food.”
16“No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. 17For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”
18But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. 19So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.
20Then while they were sitting at the table, a command from the Lord came to the old prophet. 21He cried out to the man of God from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: You have defied the word of the Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 22You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors.”
23After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet saddled his own donkey for him, 24and the man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived.
26When the prophet heard the report, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord’s command. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him.”
27Then the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey, 28and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29So the prophet laid the body of the man of God on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him. 30He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, “Oh, my brother!”
31Afterward the prophet 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. 32For the message the Lord told him to proclaim against the altar in Bethel and against the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”
33But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the common people. He appointed anyone who wanted to become a priest for the pagan shrines. 34This became a great sin and resulted in the utter destruction of Jeroboam’s dynasty from the face of the earth.
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1 Kings 13: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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3 Kings 13
13
1And, behold, there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of the Lord to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and burning incense.
2And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said: O Altar, Altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David, Josias by name. And he shall immolate upon thee the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee: and he shall burn men's bones upon thee.
3And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign, that the Lord hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent; and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
4And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched forth against him withered: and he was not able to draw it back again to him.
5The altar also was rent: and the ashes were poured out from the altar: according to the sign which the man of God had given before in the word of the Lord.
6And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God besought the face of the Lord: and the king's hand was restored to him; and it became as it was before.
7And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine, and I will make thee presents.
8And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me half thy house I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place:
9For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me: Thou shalt not eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the same way that thou camest.
10So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that he came into Bethel.
11Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel: and his sons came to him and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. And they told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.
12And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda.
13And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had saddled him, he got up,
14And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a turpentine-tree. And he said to him: Art thou the man of God that camest from Juda? He answered: I am.
15And he said to him: Come home with me, to eat bread.
16But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee; neither will I eat bread, nor drink water in this place.
17Because the Lord spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor return by the way thou wentest.
18He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee. And an angel spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him,
19And brought him back with him. So he ate bread and drank water in his house.
20And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back.
21And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
22And hast returned and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers.
23And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the prophet, whom he had brought back.
24And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed him. And his body was cast in the way; and the ass stood by him; and the lion stood by the dead body.
25And behold, men passing by saw the dead body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.
26And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord; and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion; and he hath torn him, and killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.
27And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had saddled it,
28And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass. The lion had not eaten of the dead body, nor hurt the ass.
29And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass: and going back brought it into the city of the old prophet, to mourn for him.
30And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas! my brother.
31And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
32For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord against the altar that is in Bethel: and against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of Samaria.
33After these words Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way: but on the contrary he made of the meanest of the people priests of the high places. Whosoever would, he filled his hand: and he was made a priest of the high places.
34And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin: and was cut off and destroyed from the face of the earth.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.