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.
Currently Selected:
3 Kings 13: DRC1752
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.