1 Kings 13

1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth–el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.s2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth–el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.5 The altar also was rent, 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.6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.s7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth–el.

11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth–el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth–el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:17 For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.s18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.s27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.s29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth–el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.ss34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

1 Kings 13

A Prophet Announces God’s Judgment

1 A man of God from Judah had come to Bethel. When he arrived, Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer a sacrifice.

2 By a command of the Lord, this man condemned the altar. “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: There will be a son born in David’s family line. His name will be Josiah. Here on you Josiah will sacrifice the priests from the illegal worship sites who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.”
3 That day the man of God also gave them a miraculous sign, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord will give you: You will see the altar torn apart. The ashes on it will be poured on the ground.”4 When King Jeroboam heard the man of God condemning the altar in Bethel, he pointed to the man across the altar. “Arrest him,” he said. But the arm that he used to point to the man of God was paralyzed so that he couldn’t pull it back.

5 The altar was torn apart, and the ashes from the altar were poured on the ground. This was the miraculous sign the man of God performed at the Lord’s command.
6 Then the king asked the man of God, “Please make an appeal to the Lord your God, and pray for me so that I can use my arm again.” So the man of God made an appeal to the Lord, and the king was able to use his arm again, as he had earlier.7 The king told the man of God, “Come home with me; have something to eat and drink, and I will give you a gift.”8 The man of God told the king, “Even if you gave me half of your palace, I would never go with you to eat or drink there.9 When the Lord spoke to me, he commanded me not to eat or drink or go back on the same road I took.”

10 So the man of God left on another road and didn’t go back on the road he had taken to Bethel.

A Prophet Disobeys God

11 An old prophet was living in Bethel. His sons told him everything the man of God did in Bethel that day and the exact words he had spoken to the king. When they told their father,12 he said to them, “Which road did he take?” (His sons had seen which road the man of God from Judah had taken.)

13 The old prophet told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” After they had saddled the donkey for him, he got on it.
14 He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”“Yes,” he answered.15 “Come home with me, and eat a meal,” the old prophet replied.16 The man of God said, “I’m not allowed to go back with you. I’m not allowed to eat or drink with you.

17 When the Lord spoke to me, he told me not to eat or drink there or go back on the road I took to get there.”
18 The old prophet said, “I’m also a prophet, like you. An angel spoke the word of the Lord to me. He said, ‘Bring him home with you so that he may have something to eat and drink.’ ” (But the old prophet was lying.)19 The man of God went back with him and ate and drank in his home.20 When they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke his word to the old prophet who had brought back the man of God.21 The Lord also called to the man of God. He said, “This is what the Lord says: You rebelled against the words from the Lord’s mouth and didn’t obey the command that the Lord your God gave you.

22 You came back, ate, and drank at this place about which he told you, ‘Don’t eat or drink there.’ That is why your dead body will not be allowed to be placed in the tomb of your ancestors.”
23 After the old prophet had something to eat and drink, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.24 The man of God left. A lion found him as he traveled on the road and killed him. His dead body was thrown on the road. The donkey and the lion were standing by the body.

25 People who passed by saw the body lying on the road and the lion standing by the body. They talked about it in the city where the old prophet was living.
26 When the old prophet who had brought the man of God back from the road heard about it, he said, “It’s the man of God who rebelled against the words from the Lord’s mouth! The Lord gave him to the lion. It tore him to pieces and killed him as the word of the Lord had told him.”27 Then the old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey for him. So they did.28 He found the body of the man thrown on the road. He also found the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body, nor had it torn the donkey to pieces.29 The old prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to his own city to mourn for him and to bury him.30 He laid the body of the man of God in his own tomb and mourned over the man, saying, “Oh no, my brother, my brother!”31 After he had buried the man of God, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the man of God was buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.

32 The things that he announced by a command of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and all the illegal worship sites in the cities of Samaria will happen.”
33 Even after this, Jeroboam didn’t change his evil ways, but he once again made some men priests for the illegal worship sites. He took all who were willing and appointed them to be priests at the worship sites.

34 Appointing illegal priests became the sin of Jeroboam’s family so that it had to be destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth.