1 Kings 13
1 Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
The Lord ordered a man of God from Judah to go to Bethel. He arrived just as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar about to present a burnt offering.
2 He cried against the altar by the LORD’s word, and said, “Altar! Altar! The LORD says: ‘Behold, a son will be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you.’”
He shouted out the Lord's condemnation of the altar: “Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says. A son will be born to the house of David. His name will be Josiah, and on you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn offerings on you, and human bones will be burned on you.”
3 He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”
The same day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “This is the sign to prove that the Lord has spoken. Look! The altar will be split apart, and the ashes on it will spill out.”
4 When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.
When King Jeroboam heard the condemnation the man of God had shouted out against the altar in Bethel, he pointed his hand at him and said, “Arrest him!” But the hand the king had pointed at him had become paralyzed and he couldn't draw it back.
5 The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the LORD’s word.
The altar split apart, and the ashes spilled out from it, fulfilling the sign that the man of God had given from the Lord.
6 The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” The man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.
Then the king said to the man of God, “Please plead with the Lord your God—pray for me that I may have my hand back!” The man of God pleaded with the Lord, and the king was given back the use of his hand as it was before.
7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to my home and have a meal so I can give you a present.”
8 The man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;
But the man of God told the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I still wouldn't go with you. In fact I refuse to eat or drink anything in this place.
9 for so was it commanded me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, drink no water, and do not return by the way that you came.’”
The Lord ordered me not to eat or drink anything, and not to return by the way I came.”
10 So he went another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
So he went a different way—he did not return the way he had come to Bethel.
11 Now an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of 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.
It so happened that an old prophet lived in Bethel. His sons came and told him everything the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father what the man had said to the king.
12 Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.
“Which way did he go?” their father asked them. So his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God from Judah.
13 He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it.
“Saddle up a donkey for me,” he told his sons. They saddled up a donkey and he got on.
14 He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”
He rode after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” he asked him. “Yes I am,” the man replied.
15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
“Come home with me and have something to eat,” he told him.
16 He said, “I may not return with you, nor go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
“I can't turn around and go with you, and I won't eat or drink with you in this place,” the man of God replied.
17 For it was said to me by the LORD’s word, ‘You shall eat no bread or drink water there, and do not turn again to go by the way that you came.’”
“The Lord ordered me, saying ‘You must not eat or drink anything there, or return by the way you came.’”
18 He said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him.
But the old prophet told him, “I am also a prophet, just like you. An angel told me God said, ‘Take him home with you so that he can have something to eat and drink’” But he was lying to him.
19 So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.
So the man of God went back with him, and ate and drank in his house.
20 As they sat at the table, the LORD’s word came to the prophet who brought him back;
As they were sitting at the table, a message from the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.
21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to the LORD’s word, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,
He called out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not followed the orders that the Lord your God gave you,
22 but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water,” your body will not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”
instead you went back and ate and drank in the place where he told you not to, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.”
23 After he had eaten bread and after he drank, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.
After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his own donkey for him.
24 When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.
But as he went on his way a lion came across him on the road and killed him. His body was left lying in the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
25 Behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the path, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
Some passers-by saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, so they went and let people know about it in the town where the old prophet lived.
26 When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the LORD’s word. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke to him.”
When the old prophet who had led the other astray heard what had happened, he said, “It's the man of God who disobeyed the Lord's orders. That's why the Lord put him in the path of the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, just as the Lord told him would happen.”
27 He said to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it.
The prophet told his sons, “Saddle up a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey,
28 He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.
and he went and found the body. It was still lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey.
29 The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn, and to bury him.
The prophet picked up the body of the man of God, placed it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own town to mourn over him and bury him.
30 He laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”
He laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, crying, “My poor brother!”
31 After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
After he'd buried him, he told his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
32 For the saying which he cried by the LORD’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”
For the message from the Lord that he gave in condemnation against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria, will definitely happen.”
33 After this thing, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.
But even after all this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways. He went on choosing priests from all kinds of people. He appointed anyone who wanted to be a priest of the high places.
34 This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.
This was because of this sin that the house of Jeroboam was wiped out, completely destroyed from the face of the earth.
