上帝的仆人警告耶罗波安
1有一位上帝的仆人奉耶和华的命令从犹大来到伯特利。那时，耶罗波安正站在祭坛旁烧香。 2上帝的仆人奉耶和华的命令向祭坛喊道：“祭坛啊，祭坛啊，耶和华说，必有一子在大卫家出生，他名叫约西亚。他要在你上面杀死这些献祭的祭司，在你上面焚烧人的骨头。”
3当日，他又说：“耶和华说要给你们一个征兆，这坛必破裂，坛上的灰必撒出来。”
4耶罗波安王听了他的话，就伸手指着他说：“给我拿住他！”但王伸出来的手僵住了，不能收回。 5这时，祭坛破裂了，坛上的灰也撒了出来，应验了上帝的仆人奉耶和华之命所说的征兆。
6王对上帝的仆人说：“请你为我祷告，求你的上帝耶和华使我的手复原。”于是，上帝的仆人向耶和华祷告，王的手就复原了。 7王对上帝的仆人说：“请你跟我回宫，吃点东西吧！我要酬谢你。” 8上帝的仆人却说：“你就是把你一半的财富送给我，我也不跟你去，也不在这地方用饭喝水， 9因为耶和华吩咐我不可在伯特利用饭喝水，也不可原路返回。” 10上帝的仆人就从另一条路回去了，没有原路返回。
11在伯特利住着一位老先知，他儿子们把上帝的仆人那天所行的事和对王所说的话告诉了他。 12老先知问道：“上帝的仆人走的哪条路？”他的儿子们就把上帝的仆人走的那条路告诉了他。 13-14于是，他嘱咐儿子们为他备驴，然后骑驴去追赶上帝的仆人，看见他正坐在一棵橡树下，便问：“你就是那位从犹大来的上帝的仆人吗？”他说：“是。” 15老先知说：“请你跟我一起回家吃饭吧！” 16上帝的仆人说：“我不能跟你去，也不能跟你在这里吃饭喝水， 17因为耶和华吩咐我不可在这里用饭喝水，也不可原路返回。” 18老先知就说：“我也是先知，和你一样。耶和华派天使来吩咐我带你到我家吃饭喝水。” 19上帝的仆人就随他回家吃饭喝水。
20席间，耶和华的话临到老先知， 21他就对从犹大来的上帝的仆人说：“耶和华说，你违背了你的上帝耶和华的命令，没有遵从祂的吩咐， 22竟然在祂禁止你吃喝的地方吃饭喝水，因此你的尸体必不得安葬在你的祖坟里。”
23吃喝完了，老先知为他带回家的这位先知备驴启程， 24这位先知在路上遇到一头狮子，被咬死了，尸体倒在路上，驴和狮子都站在尸体旁边。 25过路的人看见尸体倒在路上，旁边还站着一头狮子，就去老先知住的城报告这事。 26老先知听到消息，就说：“这是上帝的仆人，他违背了耶和华的命令，所以耶和华让狮子咬死了他，正应验了耶和华的话。”
27他吩咐儿子们备好驴， 28去了那里，看见上帝仆人的尸体倒在路上，驴和狮子站在尸体旁。狮子既没有吃尸体，也没有伤害驴。 29老先知把尸体驮在驴背上，运回城中为他哀悼， 30把他葬在自己的坟墓里，哀悼他说：“唉！我的弟兄啊！” 31安葬之后，老先知又对儿子们说：“我死后，你们要把我跟上帝的仆人合葬，让我们的尸骨在一起。 32因为他奉耶和华的命令咒诅伯特利的祭坛和撒玛利亚各城的神庙的话必应验。”
33这事以后，耶罗波安没有改邪归正，他任命各种人做丘坛的祭司，不管谁想做祭司，他都封立他们。 34这罪使耶罗波安家走向没落，最终彻底灭亡。
A Man of God From Judah
1A 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. 2The 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.’ ” 3That 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.”
4The 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 toward the man, it dried up. He couldn’t even pull it back. 5Also, 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.
6King 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.
7The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal. I’ll give you a gift.”
8But 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. 9The Lord gave me a command. He said, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water there. Do not return the same way you came.’ ” 10So he took another road. He didn’t go back on the same road he had taken when he came to Bethel.
11An 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. 12Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” His sons showed him the road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13So he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on the donkey for me.” When they had done it, he got on the donkey. 14He traveled 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.
15So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me. I’ll give you something to eat.”
16The man of God said, “I can’t go back to Bethel with you. I can’t eat bread or drink water with you there. 17I’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.’ ”
18The 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. 19The man of God returned with him. He ate and drank in his house.
20They were sitting at the table. The Lord gave a message to the old prophet who had brought the man of God back. 21He 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. 22You 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.’ ”
23The 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. 24And 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. 25Some 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.
26The 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.”
27The old prophet said to his sons, “Put a saddle on the donkey for me.” So they did. 28Then 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. 29So 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. 30Then he placed the body in his own tomb. People mourned for him. They said, “Oh, no, my friend! My dear friend!”
31After 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. 32I 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.”
33Even 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. 34All 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.
