Judgment on Jeroboam
1A man of God13:1 1Kg 12:22; 2Kg 23:17 came, however, from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord while Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense.13:1 1Kg 12:32–33
2The man of God cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: “Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says, ‘A son will be born to the house of David, named Josiah, and he will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who are burning incense on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’”13:2 2Kg 23:15–16
4When the king heard the message that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Arrest him!” But the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not pull it back to himself.
5The altar was ripped apart, and the ashes poured from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
8But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your house,13:8 Nm 22:18; Est 5:3; Mk 6:23 I still wouldn’t go with you, and I wouldn’t eat food or drink water in this place,
9for this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord:13:9 1Kg 13:1 ‘You must not eat food or drink water or go back the way you came.’”
10So he went another way; he did not go back by the way he had come to Bethel.
The Old Prophet and the Man of God
11Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel.13:11 1Kg 12:32; 13:1 His son13:11 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg read sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. His sons also told their father the words that he had spoken to the king.13:11 1Kg 13:2–6
12Then their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” His sons had seen13:12 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read sons showed him the way taken by the man of God who had come from Judah.
13Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he got on it.
14He followed the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“I am,” he said.
15Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.”
16But he answered, “I cannot go back with you or accompany you; I will not eat food or drink water with you in this place.
17For a message came to me by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat food or drink water there13:16–17 1Kg 13:8–9 or go back by the way you came.’”
18He said to him, “I am also a prophet13:18 1Jn 4:1 like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat food and drink water.’” The old prophet deceived him,13:18 Dt 13:1–3
19and the man of God went back with him, ate food in his house, and drank water.
20While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back,
21and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you rebelled against the Lord’s command and did not keep the command that the Lord your God commanded you —
22but you went back and ate food and drank water in the place that he said to you, “Do not eat food and do not drink water”13:21–22 1Kg 13:8–9 — your corpse will never reach the grave of your ancestors.’”13:22 1Kg 13:30
23So after he had eaten food and after he had drunk, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet he had brought back.
25There were men passing by who saw the corpse thrown on the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and spoke about it in the city where the old prophet lived.
26When the prophet who had brought him back from his way heard about it, he said, “He is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord’s command. The Lord has given him to the lion, and it has mauled and killed him, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to him.”
27Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” They saddled it,13:27 1Kg 13:13
28and he went and found the corpse thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse or mauled the donkey.
29So the prophet lifted the corpse of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back. The old prophet came into the city to mourn and to bury him.
31After he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones,
32for the message that he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel13:32 1Kg 13:1–3 and against all the shrines of the high places13:32 1Kg 12:31–32; 2Kg 17:29 in the cities of Samaria13:32 1Kg 16:28–29,32 is certain to happen.”13:32 2Kg 23:16
33Even after this,13:33 1Kg 13:1–6,24 Jeroboam did not repent13:33 1Kg 12:28–33; 13:1; Ac 26:20 of his evil way but again made priests for the high places from the ranks of the people.13:33 1Kg 12:31 He ordained whoever so desired it, and they became priests of the high places.13:33 Jdg 17:5; 2Ch 13:9
34This was the sin that caused the house of Jeroboam to be cut off and obliterated from the face of the earth.13:34 1Kg 12:28–33; 2Kg 17:21–23
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