1 Kings 13

The Man of God Speaks Against Bethel

1The Lord commanded a man of God from Judah to go to Bethel. When he arrived, Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer a sacrifice. 2The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. The man said, “Altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David’s family will have a son named Josiah. He will kill the priests of the places of worship. They now make their sacrifices on you. But Josiah will sacrifice those priests on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” 3The man of God gave proof that these things would happen. He said, “This is God’s sign that this will happen. This altar will break apart. And the ashes on it will fall onto the ground.”

4King Jeroboam heard what the man of God said about the altar in Bethel. So Jeroboam raised his hand from the altar and pointed at the man. “Capture him!” he said. But when the king said this, his arm became paralyzed. He could not move it. 5Also, the altar broke into pieces. All its ashes fell onto the ground. This was the sign the Lord had told the man of God to give.

6Then the king said to the man of God, “Please pray to the Lord your God for me. Ask him to heal my arm.”

So the man of God prayed to the Lord. And the king’s arm was healed. It became as it was before.

7Then the king said to the man of God, “Please come home and eat with me. I will give you a gift.”

8But the man of God answered the king, “I will not go home with you! Even if you gave me half of your kingdom, I would not go! I will not eat or drink anything in this place. 9The Lord commanded me not to eat or drink anything. He also commanded me not to return on the same road by which I came.” 10So he traveled on a different road. He did not return on the same road by which he had come to Bethel.

11Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the man of God had done there that day. They told their father what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12The father asked, “Which road did he use when he left?” So his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13The prophet told his sons to put a saddle on his donkey. So they saddled the donkey, and he left.

14He went after the man of God. He found the man sitting under an oak tree. The prophet asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

The man answered, “Yes, I am.”

15So the prophet said, “Please come home and eat with me.”

16But the man of God answered, “I can’t go home with you. I can’t eat or drink with you in this place. 17The Lord said to me, ‘You must not eat or drink anything there. And you must not return on the same road by which you came.’”

18Then the old prophet said, “But I also am a prophet like you.” Then he told a lie. He said, “An angel from the Lord came to me. He told me to bring you to my home. He said you should eat and drink with me.” 19So the man of God went to the old prophet’s house. And he ate and drank with him there.

20While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke his word to the old prophet. 21The old prophet cried out to the man of God from Judah. He said, “The Lord said you did not obey him! He said you did not do what the Lord your God commanded you. 22The Lord commanded you not to eat or drink anything in this place. But you came back and ate and drank. So your body will not be buried in your family grave.”

23The man of God finished eating. Then the prophet put a saddle on his donkey for him. And the man left. 24As he was traveling on the road home, a lion attacked and killed him. His body lay on the road. The donkey and the lion stood near it. 25Some men were traveling on that road. They saw the body and the lion standing near it. So they went to the city where the old prophet lived. And they told what they had seen.

26The old prophet who had brought the man of God back heard about what had happened. He said, “It is the man of God who did not obey the Lord’s command. So the Lord sent a lion to kill him. The Lord said he would do this.”

27Then the prophet said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did. 28The old prophet went out and found the body lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were still standing near it. The lion had not eaten the body. And it had not hurt the donkey. 29So the prophet put the body on his donkey. And he carried it back to the city. There he would have a time of sadness for him and bury him. 30The prophet buried the body in his own family grave. And he was sad for the man of God. He said, “Oh, my brother.”

31So the prophet buried the body. Then he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in this same grave. Put my bones next to his. 32Through him the Lord spoke against the altar at Bethel. And he spoke against the places of worship in the towns of Samaria. And what the Lord spoke through him will certainly come true.”

33But King Jeroboam did not stop doing evil things. He continued to choose priests for the places of worship from all the people. Anyone who wanted to be a priest for the places of worship was allowed. 34In this way the kingdom of Jeroboam sinned. And that sin caused its ruin and destruction from the earth.

Currently Selected:

1 Kings 13: ICB

Highlight

Copy

Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in

Learn More About International Children’s Bible

1 Kings 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.

Currently Selected:

Highlight

Copy

Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in

For more information about the NLT:

Learn More About New Living Translation