THE FIRST BOOK OF
THE KINGS,
1 Kings 13 ©
A prophet of Judah prophecies against the altar at Bethel, v. 1, etc. The prophecy is confirmed by miracles, 3. The prophet, being invited by Jeroboam to eat with him, refuses, and departs, 7. An old prophet seduces him, so that he turns back, 11. He is reproved of God for this by the old prophet, 20. And slain by a lion, 23. The old prophet, hearing of it, buries him, 25. And confirms his prophecy, 31. Jeroboam’s obstinacy, 33.
AND, behold, there came 1a man of God out of Judah 2by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar 3to burn incense.
And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, 4O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold,a a child shall be 5born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall 6he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
And he 7gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be 8rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his 9hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against 10him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
The altar also was rent, 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.
And the king 11answered and said unto the man of God, Intreatb now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and 12refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
And the man of God said unto the king, Ifc thou 13wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat 14bread nor drink water 15in this place:
For 16so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, 17Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
¶Now there dwelt an 18old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them 19they told also to their father.
And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had 20seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an 21oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in 22this place:
For 23it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
He said unto him, Idam a prophet also as 24thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
So 25he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
¶And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD 26came unto the 27prophet that 28brought 29him back:
And he 30cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuche as thou hast disobeyed the 31mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; 32thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
¶And it came to pass, after 33he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that 34he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
And when he was gone, af lion 35met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass 36stood by it, the lion also 37stood by the carcase.
And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto 38the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he 39spake unto him.
And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, 40nor torn the ass.
And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to 41mourn and to bury him.
And he laid his carcase 42in his own grave; and 43they mourned over him, saying, 44Alas, my brother!
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; 45lay my bones beside his bones:
For the saying whichg he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses 46of the high places which are in the cities of 47Samaria, shall 48surely come to pass.
¶After 49this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, buth made 50again of the 51lowest of the people priests of the high places: 52whosoever would, he 53consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
And 54this thing became 55sin 56unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.