CHAPTER 13
Suddenly,
as Jeroboam
was standing
beside
the altar
to burn incense,
there came
a man
of God
from Judah
to
Bethel
by the word
of the LORD.
And he cried out
against
the altar
by the word
of the LORD,
“O altar,
O altar,
this is what
the LORD
says:
‘A son
named
Josiah
will be born
to the house
of David,
and upon you
he will sacrifice
the priests
of the high places
who burn incense
on you,
and human
bones
will be burned
on you.'"
That
day
the man of God gave
a sign,
saying,
“This
is the sign
that
the LORD
has spoken:
‘Surely
the altar
will be split apart,
and the ashes
upon it
will be poured out.’”
Now when
King
Jeroboam,
who was at
the altar
in
Bethel,
heard
the word
that
the man
of God
had cried out
against
it,
he stretched out
his hand
and said,
“Seize him!”
But the hand
he stretched out
toward him
withered,
so that he could
not
pull it back.
And the altar
was split apart,
and the ashes
poured out,
according to the sign
that
the man
of God
had given
by the word
of the LORD.
Then the king
responded
to
the man
of God,
“Intercede
with
the LORD
your God
and pray
that my
hand
may be restored.”
So the man
of God
interceded
with
the LORD,
and the king’s
hand
was restored
to him
as it was
before.
Then the king
said
to
the man
of God,
“Come
home
with me
and refresh yourself,
and I will give
you
a reward.”
But the man
of God
replied,
“If
you were to give
me half
your possessions,
I still would not
go
with you,
nor
would I eat
bread
or drink
water
in this
place.
For
this is what
I was commanded
by the word
of the LORD:
‘You must not
eat
bread
or drink
water
or return
by the way
you came.’”
Now a certain
old
prophet
was living
in Bethel,
and his sons
came
and told
him all
the deeds
that
the man
of God
had done
that day
in Bethel.
They also told
their father
the words
that
the man had spoken
to
the king.
“Which
way
did he go?”
their father
asked.
And his sons
had seen
the way
taken
by the man
of God,
who
had come
from Judah.
So the prophet said
to
his sons,
“Saddle
the donkey
for me.”
Then they saddled
the donkey
for him,
and he mounted
it
and went
after
the man
of God.
He found him
sitting
under
an oak tree
and asked,
“Are you
the man
of God
who
came
from Judah?”
“I am,”
he replied.
But the man replied,
“I cannot
return
with you
or eat
bread
or drink
water
with you
in this
place.
For
I
have been told
by the word
of the LORD:
‘You must not
eat
bread
or drink
water
there
or return
by the way
you came.’”
Then the prophet replied,
“I
too am
a prophet
like you,
and an angel
spoke
to
me by the word
of the LORD,
saying,
‘Bring him back
with you
to
your house,
so that he may eat
bread
and drink
water.’”
The old prophet was lying
to him,
While they
were sitting
at
the table,
the word
of the LORD
came
to
the prophet
who
had brought him back,
and the prophet cried out
to
the man
of God
who
had come
from Judah,
“This is what
the LORD
says:
‘Because
you have defied
the word
of the LORD
and have not
kept
the commandment
that
the LORD
your God
gave you,
but you went back
and ate
bread
and drank
water
in the place
where
He told
you
not
to do so,
your body
shall never
reach
the tomb
of your fathers.’”
And
after
the man of God had finished eating
and
drinking,
the old prophet
who
had brought him back
saddled
the donkey
for him.
As he went on his way,
a lion
met him
on the road
and killed him,
and his body
was
left lying
in the road,
with the donkey
and the lion
standing
beside
it.
And there were
men
passing by
who saw
the body
lying
in the road
with
the lion
standing
beside
it,
and they went
and reported this
in the city
where
the old
prophet
lived.
When the prophet
who
had brought him back
from
his journey
heard this,
he said,
“It is
the man
of God
who
disobeyed
the command
of the LORD.
Therefore the LORD
has delivered him
to the lion,
and it has mauled him
and killed him,
according to the word
that the LORD
had spoken
to him."
and he went
and found
the body
lying
in the road,
with the donkey
and the lion
standing
beside
it.
The lion
had not
eaten
the body
or mauled
the donkey.
So the old prophet
lifted up
the body
of the man
of God,
laid
it on
the donkey,
and brought it back
to his own
city
to mourn for him
and bury him.
After
he had buried him,
the prophet said
to
his sons,
“When I die,
you must bury
me
in the tomb
where
the man
of God
is buried.
Lay
my bones
beside
his bones,
for
the message
that
he cried out
by the word
of the LORD
against
the altar
in Bethel
and against
all
the shrines
on the high places
in the cities
of Samaria
will surely
come to pass.”
Even after
these
events,
Jeroboam
did not
repent
of his evil
ways,
but again
he appointed
priests
for the high places
from every class
of people.
He ordained
anyone who desired
to be
a priest
of the high places.
And this
was
the sin
of the house
of Jeroboam
that led to its extermination
and destruction
from
the face
of the earth.