1 Kings 13 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men' bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 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. 6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat 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' hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. 7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not 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 the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am . 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16 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 this place: 17 For it 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. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou 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. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 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; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit , for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 25 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. 26 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 the 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 spake unto him. 27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him . 28 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, nor torn the ass. 29 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 mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying , Alas, my brother! 31 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; 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 returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

New International Reader’s Version

A man of God from Judah

1 A man of God went from Judah to Bethel. He had received a message from the LORD. He arrived in Bethel just as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer a sacrifice. 2 The man cried out. He shouted a message from the LORD against the altar. He said, ‘Altar! Altar! The LORD says, “A son named Josiah will be born into the royal family of David. Altar, listen to me! Josiah will sacrifice the priests of the high places on you. They will be the children of the priests who are offering sacrifices here. So human bones will be burned on you.” ’ 3 That same day the man of God spoke about a miraculous sign. He said, ‘Here is the sign the LORD has announced. This altar will be broken to pieces. The ashes on it will be spilled out.’ 4 The man of God announced that message against the altar at Bethel. When King Jeroboam heard it, he reached out his hand from the altar. He said, ‘Grab him!’ But as he reached out his hand towards the man, it dried up. He couldn’t even pull it back. 5 Also, the altar broke into pieces. Its ashes spilled out. That happened in keeping with the miraculous sign the man of God had announced. He had received a message from the LORD. 6 King Jeroboam spoke to the man of God. He said, ‘Pray to the LORD your God for me. Pray that my hand will be as good as new again.’ So the man of God prayed to the LORD for the king. And the king’s hand became as good as new. It was just as healthy as it had been before. 7 The king said to the man of God, ‘Come home with me for a meal. I’ll give you a gift.’ 8 But the man of God replied to the king. He said, ‘What if you were to give me half of what you own? Even then I wouldn’t go with you. I wouldn’t eat bread or drink water here. 9 The LORD gave me a command. He said, “Do not eat bread or drink water there. Do not return the same way you came.” ’ 10 So he took another road. He didn’t go back on the same road he had taken when he came to Bethel. 11 An old prophet was living in Bethel. His sons came and spoke to him. They told him everything the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, ‘Which way did he go?’ His sons showed him the road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, ‘Put a saddle on the donkey for me.’ When they had done it, he got on the donkey. 14 He travelled on the same road the man of God had taken. He found the man sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, ‘Are you the man of God who came from Judah?’ ‘I am’, he replied. 15 So the prophet said to him, ‘Come home with me. I’ll give you something to eat.’ 16 The man of God said, ‘I can’t go back to Bethel with you. I can’t eat bread or drink water with you there. 17 I’ve received a message from the LORD. He told me, “Do not eat bread or drink water there. Do not return the same way you came.” ’ 18 The old prophet answered, ‘I’m also a prophet, just like you. An angel gave me a message from the LORD. The message said, “Bring the man of God back with you to your house. Then he can eat bread and drink water with you.” ’ But the old prophet was telling him a lie. 19 The man of God returned with him. He ate and drank in his house. 20 They were sitting at the table. The LORD gave a message to the old prophet who had brought the man of God back. 21 He cried out to the man who had come from Judah. He told him, ‘The LORD says, “You have not done what I told you to do. You have not obeyed the command I gave you. I am the LORD your God. 22 You came back here and ate bread and drank water. You did it in the place where I told you not to. So your body will not be buried in your family tomb.” ’ 23 The man of God finished eating and drinking. Then the old prophet who had brought him back put a saddle on the man’s donkey for him. 24 And the man went on his way. A lion attacked him on the road and killed him. His body was left lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were standing beside it. 25 Some people passed by. They saw the body lying on the road. They saw the lion standing beside the body. Then they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived. 26 The prophet who had brought the man back from his journey heard about what had happened. He said, ‘It’s the man of God. He didn’t do what the LORD told him to do. So the LORD has given him over to the lion. The lion has attacked him and killed him. Everything has happened just as the LORD’s message had warned him it would.’ 27 The old prophet said to his sons, ‘Put a saddle on the donkey for me.’ So they did. 28 Then he went out. He found the body of the man of God lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were standing beside it. The lion hadn’t eaten the body. It hadn’t attacked the donkey either. 29 So the prophet picked up the man’s body. He put it on the donkey. He brought it back to his own city. He wanted to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he placed the body in his own tomb. People mourned for him. They said, ‘Oh, no, my friend! My dear friend!’ 31 After the old prophet had buried the man of God, he spoke to his sons. He said, ‘When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Put my bones next to his bones. 32 I want you to do that because he announced a message from the LORD. He spoke against the altar in Bethel. He also spoke against all the temples that are on the high places. They are in the towns of Samaria. What the man of God said will certainly come true.’ 33 Even after all of that happened, Jeroboam still didn’t change his evil ways. Once more he appointed priests for the high places. He made priests out of all kinds of people. In fact, he let anyone become a priest who wanted to. He set them apart to serve at the high places. 34 All of that was the great sin the royal family of Jeroboam committed. It led to their fall from power. Because of it, they were destroyed from the face of the earth.