1And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD, to Bethel. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2And he cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, "O, altar, altar, thus says the LORD. 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon you he shall offer the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burned upon you. ' " 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD has spoken. 'Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. ' " 4Then it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who had cried against the altar in Bethel, he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, "Lay hold on him!" And his hand, which he put forth against him withered up so that he could not pull it in again to himself. 5The altar also was split asunder 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. 6And the king answered and said to the man of God, "Seek now the face of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again." And the man of God prayed to the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him again and became as at the beginning. 7And the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." 8And the man of God said to the king, "If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, 9For so was it commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Eat no bread nor drink water, nor return again by the same way that you came. ' " 10Then he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.

11And a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. The words which he had spoken to the king they also told to their father. 12And their father said to them, "Where is this man? What way did he go?" For his sons had seen what way the man of God had gone, who came from Judah. 13And he said to his sons, "Saddle me the donkey." And they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it, 14And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." 15And he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." 16And he said, "I may not return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place, 17For a word was given to me by the word of the LORD, 'You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor return again by the way that you came. ' " 18And he said to him, "I am a prophet also as you are. And an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water. ' " But he lied to him. 19So he went back with him and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

20Then it came to pass as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who brought him back. 21And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have not obeyed the mouth of the LORD and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 22But came back and have eaten bread and have drunk water in the place which He said to you, "You shall not eat bread nor drink water," your corpse shall not be buried in the tomb of your fathers. ' " 23Now it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24Then he left, and a lion met him by the way and killed him. And his dead body was thrown on the highway, and the donkey stood by it, and the lion also stood by the body. 25And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

26And when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God who did not obey the word of the LORD. And the LORD has delivered him to the lion which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him." 27And he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me." And they saddled it. 28And he went and found his body thrown in the highway, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey. 29And the prophet took up the dead body of the man of God, and laid it upon the donkey and brought it back. And the prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. 30And he laid his body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" 31And it came to pass after he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, 32For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass."

33After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but turned and again made priests of the high places from the lowest of the people; anyone who desired to be made a priest, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34And this thing became the sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to destroy it from the face of the earth.