Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word (command) of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar [which he had built] to burn incense. The man cried out against the [idolatrous] altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he sacrifice [the bodies of] the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’ ” And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’ ” [2 Kin 23:15, 16] When the king heard the words which the man of God cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” And his hand which he had put out against him withered, so that he was unable to pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar in accordance with the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. The king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat [the favor of] the LORD your God and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before. And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your house (wealth), I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. For I was commanded by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall not eat bread or drink water, nor shall you return by the way you came.’ ” So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it, and he went after the man of God. And he found him sitting under an oak (terebinth) tree, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” He said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For I was told by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going the way that you came.’ ” He answered him, “I too am a prophet, as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” But he lied to him. So the man of God went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.
Bible App
Bible App for Kids
