1 Reis 13

¹ And, behold, there cameThat is, a prophet.a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD untoNot that that was called Luz in Benjamin, but another of that name.Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

² And he cryed against the altar by the comandement of the Lorde, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Beholde, a child shalbe borne vnto the house of Dauid, Iosiah by name, and vpon thee shall he sacrifice the Priestes of the hie places that burne incense vpon thee, and they shall burne mens bones vpon thee.

³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is] theBy this sign you will know that the Lord has sent me.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,The wicked rage against the prophets of God, when they declare God's judgment to them.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 claue asunder, and the ashes fell out from the altar, according to the signe, which the man of God had giuen by the commandement of the Lord.

⁶ And the king answered and said unto the man of God,Though the wicked humble themselves for a time when they feel God's judgment, they return to their old malice and declare that they are but vile hypocrites.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's hand was restored him again, and became as [it was] before.

⁷ Then the King sayde vnto the man of God, Come home with mee, that thou mayest dyne, and I will giue thee a reward.

⁸ But the man of God saide vnto the King, If thou wouldest giue me halfe thine house, I would not goe in with thee, neither woulde I eate bread nor drinke water in this place.

⁹ For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying,Seeing he had the express word of God, he should not have declined from it, neither for the persuasion of man nor angel.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 Beth-el.

¹¹ And an olde Prophet dwelt in Beth-el, and his sonnes came and tolde him all ye woorkes, that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and the wordes which he had spoken vnto the King, tolde they their father.

¹² And their father sayde vnto them, What way went he? and his sonnes shewed him what waye the man of God went, which came from Iudah.

¹³ And hee saide vnto his sonnes, Saddle mee the asse. Who sadled him the asse, and hee rode thereon,

¹⁴ And went after the man of God, & found him sitting vnder an oke: and he saide vnto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Iudah? And he sayd, Yea.

¹⁵ Then he said unto him,This he did of a simple mind, thinking it his duty to declare friendship to a prophet.Come home with me, and eat bread.

¹⁶ But he answered, I may not returne with thee, nor go in with thee, neither wil I eate bread nor drinke water with thee in this place.

¹⁷ For it was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Thou shalt eate no bread, nor drinke water there, nor turne againe to goe by the way that thou wentest.

¹⁸ He said unto him, I [am] a prophet also as thou [art]; and anHis fault is here double, first in that he did not permit the prophet to obey God's express commandment, and next that he pretended to have a revelation to the contrary.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 againe with him, and did eate bread in his house, and dranke water.

²⁰ And as they sate at the table, the worde of the Lorde came vnto the Prophet, that brought him againe.

²¹ And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD,God would reprove his folly by him who caused him to err.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 backe againe, and hast eaten bread and drunke water in the place (whereof he did say vnto thee, Thou shalt eate no bread nor drinke any water) thy carkeis shall not come vnto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

²³ And when he had eaten bread & drunke, he sadled him the asse, to wit, to the Prophet whome he had brought againe.

²⁴ And when he was gone,By this fearful example, God sets forth how dangerous it is for men to behave coldly, or deceitfully in the charge to which God has called them.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 beholde, men that passed by, sawe the carkeis cast in the way, and the lion standing by the corps: and they came and tolde it in ye towne where the olde Prophet dwelt.

²⁶ And when the Prophet that brought him backe againe from the waye, hearde thereof, hee sayde, It is the man of God, who hath bene disobedient vnto the commandement of the Lorde: therefore the Lorde hath deliuered him vnto the lion, which hath rent him and slayne him, according to the worde of the Lorde, which hee spake vnto him.

²⁷ And he spake to his sonnes, saying, Saddle me the asse; they sadled 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 hadTo declare that this was only the judgment of God: for if the lion had done it for hunger, he would also have devoured the body.not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

²⁹ And the Prophet tooke vp the body of the man of God, & layed it vpon the asse, & brought it againe, and the olde Prophet came to the citie, to lament and burie him.

³⁰ And he laid his carcase in hisWhich he had prepared for himself.own grave; and they mourned over him, [saying], Alas, my brother!

³¹ And when he had buried him, hee spake to his sonnes, saying, When I am dead, burie ye mee also in the sepulchre, wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.

³² For that thing which he cried by the word of the Lorde against the altar that is in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the hie places, which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to passe.

³³ After this thing JeroboamSo the wicked do not profit by God's threatenings, but go backward and become worse and worse, (2Ti_3:13).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 turned to sinne vnto the house of Ieroboam, euen to roote it out, and destroy it from the face of the earth.