1 Kings 13 AMPC

1. AND BEHOLD, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

2. The man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he offer the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.

3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Behold, the altar shall be split and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. [Fulfilled in II Kings 23:15, 16.]

4. When King Jeroboam heard the words the man of God cried against the altar in Bethel, he thrust out his hand, saying, Lay hold on him! And his hand which he put forth against him dried up, so that he could not draw it to him again.

5. The altar also was split 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.

6. And the king said to the man of God, Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before.

7. And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.

8. And the man of God said to the king, If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, and I will not eat bread or drink water in this place.

9. For I was commanded by the word of the Lord, You shall eat no bread or drink water or return by the way you came.

10. So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

11. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king they told also to their father.

12. Their father asked them, Which way did he go? For his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone.

13. He said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey and he rode on it

14. And went after the man of God. And he 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.

15. Then he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread.

16. He said, I may not return with you or go in with you, neither will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

17. For I was told by the word of the Lord, You shall not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way that you came.

18. He answered, 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 to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied to him.

19. So the man from Judah went back with him and ate and drank water in his house.

20. And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who brought him back.

21. And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, Thus says the Lord: Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command which the Lord your God commanded you,

22. But have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord said to you, Eat no bread and drink no water–your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.

23. And after the prophet of the house had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the man he had brought back.

24. And when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and slew him, and his corpse was cast in the way, and the donkey stood by it; the lion also stood by the corpse.

25. And behold, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown in the road, and the lion standing by the corpse, and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26. When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and slain him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.

27. And he said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. And they saddled it.

28. And he went and found the corpse thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion stood by the body; the lion had not eaten the corpse or torn the donkey.

29. The prophet took up the corpse of the man of God and laid it upon the donkey and brought it back, and the old prophet came into the city to mourn and to bury him.

30. And he laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

31. After he had buried him, he said to his sons, When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.

32. For 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 which are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.

33. After this thing, Jeroboam turned not from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Whoever would, he consecrated, that there might be priests for the high places.

34. And this thing became the sin of the dynasty of Jeroboam that caused it to be abolished and destroyed from the face of the earth.