1And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.13.1 burn: or, offer 2And 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’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. 3And 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. 4And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, 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. 5The 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. 6And 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’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.13.6 the LORD, and: Heb. the face of the LORD, etc 7And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 8And 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: 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 Beth-el.
11¶ Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12And 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. 13And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they 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, I am. 15Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16And 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: 17For 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.13.17 it…: Heb. a word was 18He 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. 19So 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: 21And 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, 22But 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. 24And 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. 25And, 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. 26And 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.13.26 torn: Heb. broken 27And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28And 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.13.28 torn: Heb. broken 29And 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. 30And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 31And 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: 32For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Beth-el, 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.13.33 made…: Heb. returned and made13.33 consecrated…: Heb. filled his hand 34And 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.
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。
