The First Book of the Kings

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- Kapitel 13 -

(2 Kings 23:4–20; 2 Chronicles 34:3–7)

One day a prophet, obeying what Yahweh commanded him to do, went from Judah north to Bethel. He arrived there right at the time that Jeroboam was standing at the altar, ready to burn incense.

Saying what Yahweh told him to say, the prophet shouted, “This is what Yahweh says about this altar, ‘I want you to know that some day a descendant of King David will be born. His name will be Josiah, and he will come here. He will slaughter at this altar the priests who are burning incense for sacrifices on the hills in this area, and he will burn the bones of dead people on this altar.’”

Then the prophet also said, “This is what will prove to you that Yahweh has said this: This altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be scattered.”

When King Jeroboam heard the prophet say that, he pointed his finger at him and said to his servants, “Seize that man!” But immediately the king’s arm became paralyzed, with the result that he could not move it.

The altar split apart, and the ashes spilled out on the ground, which is what the prophet said that Yahweh had predicted would happen.

Then the king said to the prophet, “Please pray that Yahweh will be merciful to me and heal my arm!” So the prophet prayed, and Yahweh completely healed the king’s arm.

Then the king said to the prophet, “Come home with me and eat some food. And I will also give you a reward for what you have done!”

But the prophet replied, “Even if you would promise to give me half of everything that you own, I will not go with you, and I will not eat or drink anything with you here,

because Yahweh commanded me not to eat or drink anything here. He also commanded me not to return home on the road on which I came here.”

So he started to return home, but he did not go on the road on which he came to Bethel. He went on a different road.

The Old Prophet and the Man of God

At that time there was an old man living in Bethel who was also a prophet. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done there on that day, and they also told him what the prophet had said to the king.

Their father said, “On which road did he go?” So his sons showed him the road on which the prophet from Judah had gone when he left Bethel.

Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that, and he got on the donkey.

He went along the road to find the prophet from Judah. He found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the prophet who came from Judah?” He replied, “Yes, I am.”

The old prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

He replied, “No, I am not allowed to go with you into your house, or to eat or drink anything with you,

because Yahweh told me, ‘Do not eat or drink anything here, and do not return home on the road on which you came.’”

Then the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, like you are. Yahweh sent an angel to tell me that I should take you home with me and give you some food and drink.” But the old man was lying when he said that.

But because of what the old prophet said, the prophet from Judah returned with him to his home and ate some food and drank some water with him.

While they were sitting at the table, Yahweh spoke to the old man.

Then he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what Yahweh says: ’You have disobeyed him, and you have not done what he commanded you to do.

Instead, you have come back here and had things to eat and drink in a place where he commanded you not to do that. As a result, you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in the grave where your ancestors are buried.’”

When they had finished eating, the old man put a saddle on the donkey for the prophet from Judah, and the prophet from Judah left.

But as he was going, a lion met him and killed him. The prophet’s corpse was lying on the road; the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was also standing beside the corpse.

Some men passed by and were surprised to see the corpse on the road and the lion standing next to the corpse. So they went into Bethel and reported what they had seen.

When the old man who had brought the prophet from Judah to his home heard about it, he said, “That is the prophet who disobeyed what Yahweh told him to do! That is why Yahweh allowed the lion to attack him and kill him. That is what Yahweh said would happen!”

Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that.

Then he rode on the donkey and found the prophet’s corpse on the road, and his donkey and the lion were still standing there alongside the corpse. But the lion had not eaten any of the flesh of the prophet and had not attacked the donkey.

The old man picked up the corpse of the prophet and put it on his donkey and brought it back to Bethel, in order to mourn for him and to bury his corpse.

He buried the prophet’s corpse in the grave where other people in his family had been buried. Then he and his sons mourned about him, saying, “We are very sorry, my brother!”

After they had buried him, the old man said to his sons, “When I die, bury my corpse in the grave where we buried the prophet from Judah. Lay my corpse next to his corpse.

And do not forget what he said, things that Yahweh told him to say about the altar in Bethel, and what Yahweh told him to say about the places where they worshiped idols on the hills around the towns in Samaria. Those things will surely happen.”

But King Jeroboam still did not stop continuing to do the evil things that he was doing. Instead, he appointed more priests from men who were not descended from Levi. He appointed as priest anyone who agreed to become one, in order that he could offer sacrifices on the hilltops.

Because he committed that sin, a few years later God got rid of most of Jeroboam’s descendants and did not allow them to become kings of Israel.

(2 Kings 23:4–20; 2 Chronicles 34:3–7)

Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

He cried against the altar by the LORD’s word, and said, “Altar! Altar! the LORD says: ‘Behold, a son will be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you.’”

He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”

When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.

The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the LORD’s word.

The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” The man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.

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

The man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;

for so was it commanded me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, drink no water, and don’t return by the way that you came.’”

So he went another way, and didn’t return by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Old Prophet and the Man of God

Now an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.

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

He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”

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

He said, “I may not return with you, nor go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

For it was said to me by the LORD’s word, ‘You shall eat no bread or drink water there, and don’t turn again to go by the way that you came.’”

He said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him.

So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.

As they sat at the table, the LORD’s word came to the prophet who brought him back;

and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to the LORD’s word, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,

but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water,” your body will not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

After he had eaten bread and after he drank, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.

Behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the path, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

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 LORD’s word. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke to him.”

He said to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it.

He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.

The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn, and to bury him.

He laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”

After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.

For the saying which he cried by the LORD’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”

After this thing, Jeroboam didn’t turn from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.

This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.