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

1And behold a man of God came out of Judah in the word of Jehovah to the house of God; and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2And be will call upon the altar in the word of Jehovah, and he will say, O altar, altar! thus said Jehovah, Behold, a son was born to the house of David, Josiah his name; and he sacrificed upon thee, the priests of the heights burning incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3And, he will give in that day a sign, saying, This the sign which Jehovah spake: Behold, the altar rent and the fat which was upon it, poured out. 4And it will be when the king heard the word of the man of God which he called upon the altar in the house of God; and Jeroboam will stretch forth his hand from above the altar, saving, Seize him. And his hand which he stretched forth upon him will be dried up, and he will not be able to turn it back to him. 5And the altar was rent, and the fat will be poured out from the altar according to the sign that the man of God gave by the word of Jehovah. 6And the king will answer and say to the man of God, Supplicate the face of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, and my hand shall be turned back to me And the man of God will supplicate the face of Jehovah, and the king's hand will turn back to him and be as in the beginning. 7And the king will speak to the man of God, Come with me to the house, and be strengthened, and I will give to thee a gift. 8And the man of God will say to the king, If thou wilt give to me half thy house I will not go with thee, and I will not eat bread and I will not drink water in this place: 9For thus it was commanded me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water, and thou shalt not turn back in the way which thou camest. 10And he will go in another way, and he turned not back in the way which he came in it to the house of God.

The Old Prophet and the Man of God

11And one prophet, an old man, dwelt in the house of God; and his sons will come and relate to him all the work which the man of God did that day in the house of God: the words which he spake to the king, and they will relate them to their father. 12And their father will speak to them, What way went he? and his sons will see the way that the man of God went who came from Judah. 13And he will say to his sons, Saddle for me the ass: and they will saddle for him the ass and he will ride upon it. 14And he will go after the man of God, and he will find him sitting under an oak: and he will say to him, Thou the man of God who came from Judah? And he will say, I. 15And he will say to him, Go with me to the house and eat bread. 16And he will say, I shall not be able to turn back with thee and to go with thee: and I will not eat bread and I will not drink water with thee in this place: 17For it was spoken to me by the word of Jehovah, Thou shalt not eat bread and thou shalt not drink water there, thou shalt not turn back to go in the way which thou wentest in it. 18And he will say to him, I also a prophet as thou; and a messenger spake to me in the word of Jehovah, saying, Turn him back with thee to thy house; and he shall eat bread and drink water. Lying to him. 19And he will turn back with him and eat bread in his house, and drink water.

20And it will be, they sitting at the table, and the word of Jehovah will be to the prophet who turned him back: 21And he will call to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Because thou didst imbitter the mouth of Jehovah and didst not watch the command, which Jehovah thy God commanded thee, 22And thou wilt turn back and eat bread and drink water in the place which he spake to thee, Thou shalt not eat bread and thou shalt not drink water; thy corpse shall not come to the grave of thy fathers. 23And it will be after his eating bread and after his drinking, and he will saddle for him the ass for the prophet which he turned back. 24And he will go, and a lion will find him in the way and kill him: and his corpse will be cast in the way, and the ass standing by it, and the lion standing by the corpse. 25And behold, men passing by, and they will see the corpse cast in the way, and the lion standing by the corpse: and they will come and speak in he city where the prophet, the old man, dwelt in it.

26And the prophet that brought him back from the way will hear, and say, It is the man of God who resisted the mouth of Jehovah, and Jehovah will give him to the lion, and he will break him, and he will kill him according to the word of Jehovah which he spake to him. 27And he will speak to his sons, saying, Saddle for me the ass. And they will saddle him. 28And he will go and find his corpse cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the corpse: the lion ate not the carcass and brake not the ass. 29And the prophet will lift up the corpse of the man of God and place it upon the ass, and he will turn him back: and the prophet, the old man, came to the city, and he will mourn and he will bury him. 30And he will lay it down in his grave, and they will mourn over him, Alas, my brother! 31And it will be after they buried him, he will say to his sons, saying, In my dying and ye shall bury me in the grave which the man of God was buried in it; by his bones place my bones. 32For being, the word shall be which he cried by the word of Jehovah upon the altar which is in the house of God, and upon all the houses of the heights which are in the cities of Shomeron.

33After this word Jeroboam turned not back from his evil way, and he will turn back and make from the ends of the people, priests of the heights: him desiring he will fill his hand, and he will be priest of the heights. 34And in this word it will be for sin to the house of Jeroboam, and to cut off and to destroy from the face of the earth.