1 Kings 13:1-17
13:1 Just then
a prophet
from Judah, sent by the
Lord, arrived in Bethel,
as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice.
13:2 With the authority of the
Lord he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the
Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’”
13:3 That day he also announced
a sign, “This is the sign the
Lord has predetermined:
The altar will be split open and the ashes
on it will fall to the ground.”
13:4 When the king heard what the prophet
cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand
and ordered,
“Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up
and he could not pull it back.
13:5 The altar split open and the ashes
fell from the altar to the ground,
in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had announced with the
Lord’s authority.
13:6 The king pled with
the prophet,
“Seek the favor of
the
Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the
Lord’s favor
and the king’s hand was restored to its former condition.
13:7 The king then said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat. I’d like to give a present.”
13:8 But the prophet said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions,
I could not go with you and eat and drink
in this place.
13:9 For the
Lord gave me strict orders,
‘Do not eat or drink
there and do not go home the way you came.’”
13:10 So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.
13:11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons came home, they told their father everything the prophet had done in Bethel that day and all the words he had spoken to the king.
13:12 Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him the road the prophet from Judah had taken.
13:13 He then told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it
13:14 and took off after the prophet, whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.”
13:15 He then said to him, “Come home with me and eat something.”
13:16 But he replied, “I can’t go back with you or eat and drink with you in this place.
13:17 For the Lord gave me strict orders, ‘Do not eat or drink there; do not go back the way you came.’”