1 Kings 13
13
Prophets condemn Jeroboam
A prophet condemns the altar at Bethel
1-2One day, Jeroboam was standing at the altar in Bethel, ready to make an offering. Suddenly one of God's prophets#13.1,2 one of God's prophets: Hebrew “a man of God”. arrived from Judah and shouted:#2 K 23.15,16.
The LORD sent me with a message about this altar. A child named Josiah will be born into David's family. He will sacrifice on this altar the priests who make offerings here, and human bones will be burnt on it.
3You will know that the LORD has said these things when the altar splits in half, and the ashes on it fall to the ground.
4Jeroboam pointed at the prophet and shouted, “Grab him!” But straight away, Jeroboam's hand became stiff, and he could not move it. 5The altar split in half, and the ashes fell to the ground, just as the prophet had warned.
6“Please pray to the LORD your God and ask him to heal my hand,” Jeroboam begged.
The prophet prayed, and Jeroboam's hand was healed.
7“Come home with me and eat something,” Jeroboam said. “I want to give you a gift for what you have done.”
8“No, I wouldn't go with you, even if you offered me half of your kingdom. I won't eat or drink here either. 9The LORD said I can't eat or drink anything and that I can't go home the same way I came.” 10Then he started home down a different road.
An old prophet from Bethel
11At that time an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons told him what the prophet from Judah had said and done.
12“Show me which way he went,” the old prophet said, and his sons pointed out the road. 13“Put a saddle on my donkey,” he told them. After they did, he got on the donkey 14and rode off to look for the prophet from Judah.
The old prophet found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the prophet from Judah?”
“Yes, I am.”
15“Come home with me,” the old prophet said, “and have something to eat.”
16“I can't go back with you,” the prophet replied, “and I can't eat or drink anything with you. 17The LORD warned me not to eat or drink or to go home the same way I came.”
18The old prophet said, “I'm a prophet too. One of the LORD's angels told me to take you to my house and give you something to eat and drink.”
The prophet from Judah did not know that the old prophet was lying, 19so he went home with him and ate and drank.
20During the meal the LORD gave the old prophet 21a message for the prophet from Judah:
Listen to the LORD's message. You have disobeyed the LORD your God. 22He told you not to eat or drink anything here, but you came home and ate with me. And so, when you die, your body won't be buried in your family tomb.
23After the meal the old prophet got a donkey ready, 24and the prophet from Judah left. Along the way, a lion attacked and killed him, and the donkey and the lion stood there beside his dead body.
25Some people walked by and saw the body with the lion standing there. They ran into Bethel, telling everyone what they had seen.
26When the old prophet heard the news, he said, “That must be the prophet from Judah. The LORD warned him, but he disobeyed. So the LORD sent a lion to kill him.”
27The old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey, and when it was ready, 28he left. He found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and lion standing there. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29The old prophet picked up the body, put it on his own donkey, and took it back to Bethel, so he could bury it and mourn for the prophet from Judah.
30He buried the body in his own family tomb and cried for the prophet. 31He said to his sons, “When I die, bury my body next to this prophet. 32I'm sure that everything he said about the altar in Bethel and the shrines in Samaria will happen.”
33But Jeroboam kept on doing evil things. He appointed men to be priests at the local shrines, even if they were not Levites. In fact, anyone who wanted to be a priest could be one. 34This sinful thing led to the downfall of his kingdom.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
1 Kings 13
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.
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