1 Kings 13

1Behold, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the word of Yahweh, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

2He called out against the altar by Yahweh's word and said, "Altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: See, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; on you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones will burn on you."

3He gave a sign that very day, saying, "This is the sign Yahweh spoke of: See, the altar will tear apart, and the ashes on it will pour out."

4When King Jeroboam heard the word of the man of God, which he had proclaimed against the altar in Bethel, he extended his hand from the altar, saying, "Grab him!" His hand, the one he had extended against him, shriveled up so that he could not draw it back to himself.

5The altar tore open, and the ashes poured out from the altar, as the sign the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh.

6The king answered and said to the man of God, "Please seek the face of Yahweh your God and pray for me, that my hand may return to me." The man of God sought the face of Yahweh, and the king's hand returned to him, and it became as at first.

7The king said to the man of God, “Come with me to the house, refresh yourself, and I will give you a gift.”

8The man of God said to the king, "If you give me half your house, I will not come with you, nor eat bread or drink water in this place."

9For thus he commanded me by the word of Yahweh, saying, "You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way you came."

10He went by another path and did not return along the road by which he had come to Bethel.

11A certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and one of his sons came and recounted to him all the deeds the man of God had performed that day in Bethel—the words he had declared to the king—which they also recounted to their father.

12Their father said to them, "By what road did he go?" His sons had seen the road the man of God took, who came from Judah.

13He said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode upon it.

14He went after the man of God and found him sitting under the oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”

15He said to him, "Come with me to the house and eat bread."

16He said, "I cannot return with you or come in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place."

17For a word came to me by the word of Yahweh: "You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor turn back to go by the way that you came."

18He said to him, "I too am a prophet like you; an angel spoke to me by Yahweh's word, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, to eat bread and drink water.'" He lied to him.

19He returned with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.

20While they sat at the table, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who had brought him back.

21He called to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh: Because you rebelled against the mouth of Yahweh and did not keep the commandment that Yahweh your God commanded you,"

22You returned and ate bread and drank water in the place where he said to you, "Eat no bread, and drink no water"; your carcass shall not come to the grave of your fathers.

23After he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24As he went on, a lion met him along the way and killed him, and his carcass lay thrown on the road, the donkey standing beside it, the lion standing beside the body.

25Look, some men going by saw the carcass thrown on the road and the lion standing beside the carcass; they came and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet was dwelling.

26When the prophet who had turned him back from the road heard it, he said, “It is the man of God, the one who rebelled against the mouth of Yahweh; therefore Yahweh gave him to the lion, which tore him and killed him, according to the word of Yahweh that he spoke to him.”

27He said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they saddled it.

28He went and found his body thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside it; the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the donkey.

29The prophet picked up the corpse of the man of God and placed it on the donkey, then returned with it. He came to the elder prophet's city to lament and bury him.

30He laid his body in his grave, and they mourned over him: "Alas, my brother!"

31After burying him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; place my bones beside his bones."

32For the word he proclaimed by Yahweh's word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria, will surely take place.

33After this matter Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among the people; whoever desired it, he filled his hand, and became a priest of the high places.

34This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, to cut it off and destroy it from the face of the ground.