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
God Speaks Against Bethel
1The Lord commanded a man of God from Judah to go to the city of Bethel. King Jeroboam was standing at the altar offering incense when the man of God arrived. 2The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. He said,
“Altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David’s family will have a son. His name will be Josiah. The priests of the high places are now burning incense on you, but Josiah will offer the priests on you and burn human bones on you, so you can never be used again!’”
3The man of God gave proof to the people that this would happen. He said, “This is the proof that the Lord told me about. He said, ‘This altar will break apart, and the ashes on it will fall onto the ground.’”
4When King Jeroboam heard the message from the man of God about the altar in Bethel, he took his hand off the altar and pointed at the man. He said, “Arrest that man!” But when the king said this, his arm became paralyzed. He could not move it. 5Then the altar broke into pieces, and all its ashes fell onto the ground. This proved that what the man of God had said came from the Lord. 6Then King Jeroboam 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, as it was before. 7Then the king said to the man of God, “Please come home with me. Come and eat with me. I will give you a gift.”
8But the man of God said to the king, “I will not go home with you, even if you give me half of your kingdom! I will not eat or drink anything in this place. 9The Lord commanded me not to eat or drink anything here. He also commanded me not to go back the same way I came.” 10So he took a different road home. He did not go back the same way he came to Bethel.
11There was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the man of God did in Bethel and what he said to King Jeroboam. 12The old prophet said, “Which way did he go when he left?” So the sons showed their father which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13The old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey. They put the saddle on the donkey, and the prophet left.
14The old prophet went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked him, “Are you the man of God who just came from Judah?”
The man of God answered, “Yes, I am.”
15So the old prophet said, “Please come home and eat with me.”
16But the man of God said, “I cannot go home with you. I cannot eat or drink anything in this place. 17The Lord said to me, ‘You must not eat or drink anything in that place, and you must go back on a different road.’”
18The old prophet lied to him and said, “But I am a prophet like you. And an angel from the Lord came to me and told me to bring you home and give you something to eat and drink.”
19So the man of God went to the old prophet’s house and ate and drank with him. 20While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke to the old prophet, 21and the old prophet spoke to the man of God from Judah. He said, “The Lord said that you did not obey him! You did not do what he commanded. 22He told you not to eat or drink anything in this place, but you came back here and ate and drank. So your body will not be buried in your family grave.”
23The man of God finished eating and drinking. Then the old prophet saddled the man’s donkey for him and the man left. 24On the way home, a lion attacked and killed the man of God. His body was lying on the road while the lion stood next to it. The donkey stood nearby. 25Some people came walking by and saw the body and the lion standing by it. They went into the city where the old prophet lived and told people what they had seen on the road.
26The old prophet heard the story and said, “This is the man of God who did not obey the Lord’s command, so the Lord sent a lion to attack him. The lion has killed him, just as the Lord said would happen.” 27Then the prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey, and they did so. 28The old prophet went to find the body lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were still standing near it. The lion had not eaten the body or hurt the donkey.
29The old prophet put the body on his donkey and carried it back to the city to cry for him and bury him. 30The old prophet buried the man in his own family grave. The old prophet cried for him and said, “Oh, my brother, I am sorry for you.” 31So the old 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. 32The Lord used him to speak against the altar at Bethel and against the high places in the other towns in Samaria. And what he said will certainly happen.”
33King Jeroboam did not change. He continued doing evil. He continued to choose people from different tribes to serve as priests#13:33 people … priests The Law taught that only people from the tribe of Levi could become priests. at the high places. Whoever wanted to be a priest was allowed to be one. 34This is the sin that caused the ruin and destruction of his kingdom.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International