Kings III 13
1 And behold, there came a man of God out of Juda by the word of the Lord to Baethel, and Jeroboam stood at the altar to sacrifice.
Then a man of God came from Judah by the order of the Lord to Beth-el, where Jeroboam was by the altar, burning offerings.
2 And he cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus says the Lord, Behold, a son is [to be] born to the house of David, Josias by name; and he shall offer upon you the priests of the high places, [even] of them that sacrifice upon you, and [he] shall burn men's bones upon you.
And by the order of the Lord he made an outcry against the altar, saying, O altar, altar, the Lord has said, From the seed of David will come a child, named Josiah, and on you he will put to death the priests of the high places, who are burning offerings on you, and men's bones will be burned on you.
3 And in that day one shall give a sign, saying, This [is] the word which the Lord has spoken, saying, Behold, the altar is tore, and the fatness upon it shall be poured out.
The same day he gave them a sign, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has given: See, the altar will be broken and the burned waste on it overturned.
4 And it came to pass when king Jeroboam heard the words of the man of God who called on the altar that was in Baethel, that the king stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying, Take hold of him. And, behold, his hand, which he stretched forth against him, withered, and he could not draw it back to himself.
Then the king, hearing the man of God crying out against the altar at Beth-el, put out his hand from the altar, saying, Take him prisoner. And his hand, stretched out against him, became dead, and he had no power of pulling it back.
5 And the altar was tore, and the fatness was poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God gave by the word of the Lord.
And the altar was broken and the burned waste on it overturned; this was the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
6 And king Jeroboam said to the man of God, Intreat the Lord your God, and let my hand be restored to me. And the man of God entreated the Lord, and he restored the king's hand to him, and it became as before.
Then the king made answer and said to the man of God, Make a prayer now for the grace of the Lord your God, and for me, that my hand may be made well. And in answer to the prayer of the man of God, the king's hand was made well again, as it was before.
7 And the king said to the man of God, Enter with me into the house, and dine, and I will give you a gift.
And the king said to the man of God, Come with me to my house for food and rest, and I will give you a reward.
8 And the man of God said to the king, If you should give me the half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither will I eat bread, neither will I drink water in this place; for thus the Lord charged me by [his] word, saying,
But the man of God said to the king, Even if you gave me half of all you have, I would not go in with you, and I would not take food or a drink of water in this place;
9 Eat no bread, and drink no water, and return not by the way by which you came.
For so I was ordered by the word of the Lord, who said, You are not to take food or a drink of water, and you are not to go back the way you came.
10 So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way by which he came to Baethel.
So he went another way, and not by the way he came to Beth-el.
11 And there lived an old prophet in Baethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God did on that day in Baethel, and the words which he spoke to the king: and they turned the face of their father.
Now there was an old prophet living in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and gave him word of all the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and they gave their father an account of the words he had said to the king.
12 And their father spoke to them, saying, Which way went he? and his sons show him the way by which the man of God who came out of Juda went up.
Then their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone.
13 And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass: and they saddled him the ass, and he mounted it,
So the prophet said to his sons, Make ready an ass for me. So they made an ass ready, and he got on it,
14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said to him, Are you the man of God that came out of Juda? And he said to him, I [am].
And went after the man of God, and came up with him while he was seated under an oak-tree. And he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am.
15 And he said to him, Come with me, and eat bread.
Then he said to him, Come back to the house with me and have a meal.
16 And he said, I shall not by any means be able to return with you, neither will I eat bread, neither will I drink water in this place.
But he said, I may not go back with you or go into your house; and I will not take food or a drink of water with you in this place;
17 For thus the Lord commanded me by word, saying, Eat not bread there, and drink not water, and return not there by the way by which you came.
For the Lord said to me, You are not to take food or water there, or go back again by the way you came.
18 And he said to him, I also am a prophet as you [are]; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back to you into your house, and let him eat bread and drink water: but he lied to him.
Then he said to him, I am a prophet like you; and an angel said to me by the word of the Lord, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he said false words to him.
19 And he brought him back, and he ate bread and drank water in his house.
So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water.
20 And it came to pass while they were sitting at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back;
But while they were seated at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had taken him back;
21 and he spoke to the man of God that came out of Juda, saying, Thus says the Lord, Because you have resisted the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you,
And crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said, The Lord says, Because you have gone against the voice of the Lord, and have not done as you were ordered by the Lord,
22 but have returned, and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he spoke to you, saying, You shall not eat bread, and shall not drink water; [therefore] your body shall in nowise enter into the sepulchre of your fathers.
But have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers.
23 And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and drunk water, that he saddled the ass for him, and he turned and departed.
Now after the meal he made ready the ass for him, for the prophet whom he had taken back.
24 And a lion found him in the way, and killed him; and his body was cast out in the way, and the ass was standing by it, and the lion [also] was standing by the body.
And he went on his way; but on the road a lion came rushing at him and put him to death; and his dead body was stretched in the road with the ass by its side, and the lion was there by the body.
25 And, behold, men [were] passing by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion was standing near the carcase: and they went in and spoke [of it] in the city where the old prophet lived.
And some men, going by, saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side; and they came and gave news of it in the town where the old prophet was living.
26 And [the prophet] that turned him back out of the way heard, and said, This is the man of God who rebelled against the word of the Lord.
Then the prophet who had made him come back, hearing it, said, It is the man of God, who went against the word of the Lord; that is why the Lord has given him to the lion to be wounded to death, as the Lord said.
27 [And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass, and they saddled it. ]
And he said to his sons, Make ready the ass for me. And they did so.
28 And he went and found the body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion were standing by the body: and the lion had not devoured the body of the man of God, and had not torn the ass.
And he went and saw the dead body stretched out in the road with the ass and the lion by its side: the lion had not taken the body for its food or done any damage to the ass.
29 And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on his ass; and the prophet brought him back to his city, to bury him in his own tomb,
Then the prophet took up the body of the man of God and put it on the ass and took it back; and he came to the town to put the body to rest with weeping.
30 and they bewailed him, [saying], Alas, brother.
And he put the body in the resting-place made ready for himself, weeping and sorrowing over it, saying, O my brother!
31 And it came to pass after he had lamented him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, Whenever I die, bury me in this tomb wherein the man of God is buried; lay me by his bones, that my bones may be preserved with his bones.
And when he had put it to rest, he said to his sons, When I am dead, then you are to put my body into the earth with the body of this man of God, and put me by his bones so that my bones may be kept safe with his bones.
32 For the word will surely come to pass which he spoke by the word of the Lord against the altar in Baethel, and against the high houses in Samaria.
For the outcry he made by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el and against all the houses of the high places in the towns of Samaria, will certainly come about.
33 And after this Jeroboam turned not from his sin, but he turned and made of part of the people priests of the [high places]: whoever would, he consecrated him, and he became a priest for the high places.
After this Jeroboam, not turning back from his evil ways, still made priests for his altars from among all the people; he made a priest of anyone desiring it, so that there might be priests of the high places.
34 And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to its destruction and its removal from the face of the earth.
And this became a sin in the family of Jeroboam, causing it to be cut off and sent to destruction from the face of the earth.
