1And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah (by the commandment of the Lord) unto Bethel, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to offer incense.
2And he cried against the altar by the commandment 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 sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and they shall burn men’s bones upon thee.
3And he gave a sign the same time, saying, This is the sign, that the Lord hath spoken, Behold, the altar shall rent, and the ashes that are upon it, shall fall out.
4And when the king had heard the saying of the man of God, which he had cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand for the altar, saying, Lay hold on him: but his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, and he could not pull it in again to him.
5The altar also clave asunder, and the ashes fell out from the altar, according to the sign, which the man of God had given by the commandment of the Lord.
6Then the king answered and said unto the man of God, I beseech thee, pray unto the Lord thy God, and make intercession for me, that mine hand may be restored unto me. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the King’s hand was restored, and became as it was afore.
7Then the King said unto the man of God, Come home with me, that thou mayest dine, and I will give thee a reward.
8But the man of God said unto the King, If thou wouldest give me half thine house, I would not go with thee, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place.
9For 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.
10So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
11And an old Prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works, that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, and the words which he had spoken unto the king, told they their father.
12And their father said unto them, What way went he? and his sons showed him what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
13And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. Who saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon,
14And 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, Yea.
15Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16But he answered, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place.
17For it was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou wentest.
18And 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 again with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water: but he lied unto him.
19So he went again with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came unto the Prophet, that brought him again.
21And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
22But camest back again, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place (whereof he did say unto thee, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink any water) thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.
23And when he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled him the ass, to wit, to the Prophet whom he had brought again,
24And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him, and his body was cast in the way, and the ass stood thereby: the Lion stood by the corpse also.
25And behold, men that passed by, saw the carcass cast in the way, and the Lion standing by the corpse: and they came and told it in the town where the old Prophet dwelt.
26And when the Prophet that brought him back again from the way, heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who hath been disobedient unto the Commandment of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the Lion, which hath rent him and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.
27And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
28And he went and found his body cast in the way, and the ass and the Lion stood by the corpse: and the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the ass.
29And the Prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it again, and the old Prophet came to the city, to lament and bury him.
30And he laid his body in his own grave, and they lamented over him, saying, Alas, my brother.
31And when he had buried him, he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, bury ye me also in the sepulcher, wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.
32For that thing which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar that is in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places, which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
33Howbeit after this Jeroboam converted not from his wicked way, but turned again, and made of the lowest of the people priests of the high places. Who would, might consecrate himself and be of the priests of the high places.
34And this thing turned to sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to root it out, and destroy it from the face of the earth.