Jeroboam Warned, Stricken

1Now behold, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to burn incense. 2And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, “Altar, altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall burn on you.’” 3Then he gave a [a]sign on the same day, saying, “This is the [b]sign which the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn to pieces and the [c]ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’” 4Now when the king heard the statement of the man of God which he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But his hand which he had stretched out toward him dried up, and he could not draw it back to himself. 5The altar also was torn to pieces and the [d]ashes were poured out from the altar, in accordance with the [e]sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6And the king responded and said to the man of God, “Please [f]appease the LORD your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God [g]appeased the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. 7Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a gift.” 8But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. 9For so [h]it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came.’” 10So he went another way and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.

The Disobedient Prophet

11Now an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his [i]sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they reported to their father. 12And their father said to them, “[j]Which way did he go?” Now his sons [k]had seen the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. 14So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under [l]an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” 15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” 16But he said, “I cannot return with you, nor come with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17For a [m]command came to me by the word of the LORD: ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way that you came.’” 18Then he said to him, “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.’” But he lied to him. 19So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

20Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have [n]disobeyed the [o]command of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 22but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “You are not to eat bread nor drink water”; your dead body will not come to the grave of your fathers.’” 23It came about 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. 24Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. 25And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told about it in the city where the old prophet had lived.

26Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God, who [p]disobeyed the [q]command of the LORD; therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He spoke to him.” 27Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. 28Then he went and found his body thrown on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor [r]harmed the donkey. 29So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. 30He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Oh, my brother!” 31And after he had buried him, he talked to his sons, saying, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For the thing will certainly come to pass which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar that is in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria.”

33After this event, Jeroboam did not [s]abandon his evil way, but he again [t]appointed priests of the high places from [u]all the people; anyone who wanted, he ordained, and he became [v]one of the priests of the high places. 34[w]This event also became a sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to wipe it out and eliminate it from the face of the earth.

[a] 3 Or wonder
[b] 3 Or wonder
[c] 3 Lit ashes of fat
[d] 5 Lit ashes of fat
[e] 5 Or wonder
[f] 6 Lit soften the face of
[g] 6 Lit softened the face of
[h] 9 Lit He commanded me
[i] 11 Lit son
[j] 12 Lit Where is this, the way he went
[k] 12 Some ancient versions showed him
[l] 14 Or a terebinth
[m] 17 Lit word
[n] 21 Lit rebelled against
[o] 21 Lit mouth
[p] 26 Lit rebelled against
[q] 26 Lit mouth
[r] 28 Lit broken
[s] 33 Lit turn away from
[t] 33 Lit made
[u] 33 Lit the extremities of the
[v] 33 Ancient versions a priest of
[w] 34 As in LXX and Targum; MT By this event also it became