At Bethel's altar

1And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel. Jerobo'am was standing by the altar to burn incense. 2And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josi'ah by name; and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burned upon you.’ ” 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.’ ” 4And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jerobo'am stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold of him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5The altar also was torn down, 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. 6And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favour 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 to him, and became as it was before. 7And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” 8And 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; 9for so was it commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall neither 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 came to Bethel.

11Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel. And his sons13.11 Gk Syr Vg: Heb son came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words also which he had spoken to the king, they told to their father. 12And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13And he said to his sons, “Saddle the ass for me.” So they saddled the ass for him and he mounted it. 14And he went after the man of God, and 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.” 15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” 16And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place; 17for it was said to me by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’ ” 18And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house 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.

20And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21and 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 commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 22but have come back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water”; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” 23And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the ass for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the ass stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. 25And behold, men passed by, and saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God, who disobeyed 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 which the LORD spoke to him.” 27And he said to his sons, “Saddle the ass for me.” And they saddled it. 28And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the ass and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the ass. 29And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back to the city,13.29 Gk: Heb he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. 30And he laid the body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” 31And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For 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 Samar'ia, shall surely come to pass.”

33After this thing Jerobo'am did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. 34And this thing became sin to the house of Jerobo'am, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.