1 Kings 13
1 And behold, by the word of the Lord, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing over the altar, and burning incense.
A man of God came out of Judah by the word of Yahweh to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
2 And by the word of the Lord, he cried out against the altar. And he said: “O altar, O altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. And upon you, he will immolate the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon you. And upon you, he will burn up the bones of men.’”
He cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh: “Altar, altar! This is what Yahweh says, 'See, a son named Josiah will be born to the family of David, and on you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now burn incense on you. On you they will burn human bones.'”
3 And he gave a sign on the same day, saying: “This will be the sign that the Lord has spoken. Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.”
Then the man of God gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh has spoken: 'Look, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes on it will be poured out.'”
4 And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, he extended his hand from the altar, saying, “Apprehend him!” But his hand, which he had extended against him, withered. And he was unable to draw it back to himself.
When the king heard what the man of God said, that he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam reached out with his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” Then the hand with which he had reached out against the man dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.
5 Also, the altar was torn apart, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, in accord with the sign that the man of God had predicted by the word of the Lord.
(The altar was also split apart and the ashes poured out from the altar, as described by the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh.)
6 And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God prayed before the face of the Lord, and the hand of the king was restored to him, and it became as it had been before.
King Jeroboam answered and said to the man of God, “Plead for the favor of Yahweh your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me again.” So the man of God prayed to Yahweh, and the king's hand was restored to him again, and it became as it was before.
7 Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home with me, so that you may dine. And I will give you gifts.”
The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8 And the man of God responded to the king: “Even if you will give me one half part of your house, I will not go with you, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place.
The man of God said to the king, “Even if you give me half your possessions, I will not go with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place,
9 For so it was commanded to me by the word of the Lord, ordering: ‘You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water, nor shall you return by the way that you came.’”
because Yahweh commanded me by his word, 'You will eat no bread nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came.'”
10 Then he departed by another way, and he did not return along the way that he had traveled to Bethel.
So the man of God left another way and did not return to his home by the way that he had come to Bethel.
11 Now a certain elderly prophet was living in Bethel. His sons went to him, and they described to him all the works which the man of God had accomplished on that day in Bethel. And they described to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.
Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. His sons also told him the words that the man of God had spoken to the king.
12 And their father said to them, “By which way did he depart?” His sons showed him the way by which the man of God, who had come from Judah, had departed.
Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen the way the man of God from Judah had gone.
13 And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it, he climbed on,
So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey and he rode off on it.
14 and he went away after the man of God. And he found him sitting under a terebinth tree. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he responded, “I am.”
The old prophet went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He answered, “I am.”
15 And he said to him, “Come home with me, so that you may eat bread.”
Then the old prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat food.”
16 But he said: “I am not able to turn back, nor to go with you. Neither will I eat bread, or drink water in this place.
The man of God answered, “I may not return with you nor go in with you, neither will I eat food nor drink water with you in this place,
17 For the Lord has spoken to me, by the word of the Lord, saying, “You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water in that place, nor shall you return by the way that you arrived.”
because it was commanded to me by the word of Yahweh, 'You will eat no food nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'”
18 And he said to him: “I, too, am a prophet like you. And an Angel spoke to me, by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Lead him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread, and drink water.’” And so he deceived him.
So the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat food and drink water.'” But he was lying to the man of God.
19 And he led him back with him. Then he ate bread and drank water in his house.
So the man of God went back with the old prophet and ate food in his house and drank water.
20 And while they were sitting at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had led him back.
As they sat at the table, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who had brought him back,
21 And he cried out to the man of God who had arrived from Judah, saying: “Thus says the Lord: Because you were not obedient to the mouth of the Lord, and you did not keep the commandment that the Lord your God instructed to you,
and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Yahweh says, 'Because you have been disobedient to the word of Yahweh and have not kept the command that Yahweh your God gave you,
22 and you turned back, and ate bread, and drank water in the place where he commanded you that you should not eat bread, nor drink water: your dead body shall not be carried back to the sepulcher of your fathers.”
but came back and have eaten food and drunk water in the place about which Yahweh told you to eat no food and drink no water, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.'”
23 And when he had eaten and had drunk, he saddled his donkey for the prophet whom he had led back.
After he had eaten food and after he had drunk, the prophet saddled the donkey of the man of God, the man who had come back with him.
24 And when he had departed, a lion found him along the way, and it killed him, and his dead body was left upon the road. Now the donkey was standing beside him. And the lion was standing beside the dead body.
When the man of God was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left on the road. Then the donkey stood by it, and the lion also stood by the body.
25 And behold, men who were passing by saw the dead body lying in the road, with the lion standing beside the body. And they went and made it widely known in the city where that elderly prophet was living.
When men passed by and saw the body left on the road, and the lion standing by the body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
26 And when that prophet, who had led him back from the way, had heard it, he said: “It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord. And the Lord has delivered him to the lion. And it has torn him apart and killed him, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.”
When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of Yahweh. Therefore Yahweh gave him to the lion, which tore him to pieces and killed him, just as the word of Yahweh warned him.”
27 And he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it,
So the old prophet spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle my donkey,” and they saddled it.
28 and he had departed, he found the dead body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the dead body. The lion did not eat from the dead body, nor did it harm the donkey.
He went and found the body left in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor attacked the donkey.
29 Then the prophet took the dead body of the man of God, and he placed it upon the donkey, and returning, he brought it into the city of the elderly prophet, so that he might mourn for him.
The prophet took 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 and to bury him.
30 And he placed his dead body in his own sepulcher. And they mourned for him, saying: “Alas! Alas! My brother!”
He laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Woe, my brother!”
31 And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: “When I will have died, bury me in the sepulcher in which the man of God was buried. Place my bones beside his bones.
Then after he had buried him, the old prophet 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.
32 For certainly, the word will arrive, which he predicted by the word of the Lord, against the altar, which is in Bethel, and against all the shrines of the high places, which are in the cities of Samaria.”
For the message he declared by the word of Yahweh, against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses on the high places in the cities of Samaria, will certainly happen.”
33 After these words, Jeroboam did not turn back from his very evil way. Instead, to the contrary, he made priests for the high places out of the least of the people. Whosoever was willing, he filled his hand, and he became a priest of the high places.
After this Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but continued to appoint common priests for the high places from among all sorts of people. Any who would serve he consecrated as a priest.
34 And for this reason, the house of Jeroboam sinned, and was uprooted, and was wiped from the face of the earth.
This matter became sin to the family of Jeroboam and caused his family to be destroyed and to be exterminated from the face of the earth.
