Jeroboam’s Hand Withers
(2 Kings 23:4–20; 2 Chronicles 34:3–7)

1And 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. 2And 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.’ ” 3And 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.” 4And 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. 5Also, 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. 6And 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. 7Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home with me, so that you may dine. And I will give you gifts.” 8And 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. 9For 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.’ ” 10Then he departed by another way, and he did not return along the way that he had traveled to Bethel.

The Old Prophet and the Man of God

11Now 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. 12And 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. 13And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it, he climbed on, 14and 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.” 15And he said to him, “Come home with me, so that you may eat bread.” 16But 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. 17For 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.” 18And 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. 19And he led him back with him. Then he ate bread and drank water in his house.

20And while they were sitting at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had led him back. 21And 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, 22and 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.” 23And when he had eaten and had drunk, he saddled his donkey for the prophet whom he had led back. 24And 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. 25And 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.

26And 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.” 27And he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it, 28and 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. 29Then 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. 30And he placed his dead body in his own sepulcher. And they mourned for him, saying: “Alas! Alas! My brother!” 31And 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. 32For certainly, the word will arrived, 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.”

33After 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. 34And for this reason, the house of Jeroboam sinned, and was uprooted, and was wiped from the face of the earth.