1 Kings 13

A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

1 And behold, l a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar m to make offerings. 2 n And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, o Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'" 3 And he gave p a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: 'Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.'" 4 And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him." And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 6 And the king said to the man of God, q "Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me." And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. 7 And the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and r I will give you a reward." 8 And the man of God said to the king, s "If you give me half your house, t I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, 9 for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.'" 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Prophet's Disobedience

11 Now u an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons 1 came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13 And he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. 14 And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" And he said, "I am." 15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." 16 And he said, v "I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, 17 for it was said to me w by the word of the Lord, 'You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'" 18 And he said to him, "I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.'" But he lied to him. 19 So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

20 And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. 21 And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water," your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.'" 23 And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And as he went away x a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. 25 And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where y the old prophet lived.

26 And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him." 27 And he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And they saddled it. 28 And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey. 29 And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city 2 to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, z "Alas, my brother!" 31 And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; a lay my bones beside his bones. 32 b For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against c all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of d Samaria shall surely come to pass."

33 After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. 34 e And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, f so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

  1. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:17
    Then he said, "What is that monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.
  2. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:33
    He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.
  3. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:32
    For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.
  4. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:15 - 16
    Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah.
  5. Cross References
    Judges 6:17
    And he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 8:8
    Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.
    Exodus 9:28
    Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.
    Exodus 10:17
    Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.
    Numbers 21:7
    And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
    Acts 8:24
    And Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
  7. Cross References
    1 Samuel 9:7
    Then Saul said to his servant, "But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?
    2 Kings 5:15
    Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, "Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 22:18
    But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more.
    Numbers 24:13
    If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak'?
  9. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:16 - 17
    And he said, "I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.
  10. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:25
    And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
    2 Kings 23:18
    And he said, "Let him be; let no man move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.
  11. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:8 - 9
    And the man of God said to the king, "If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place.
  12. Cross References
    1 Kings 20:35
    And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the Lord, "Strike me, please." But the man refused to strike him.
    1 Thessalonians 4:15
    For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
  13. Cross References
    1 Kings 20:36
    Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall strike you down." And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and struck him down.
  14. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:11
    Now an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.
  15. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:18
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah, my brother!' or 'Ah, sister!' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah, lord!' or 'Ah, his majesty!
  16. Cross References
    2 Kings 23:17 - 18
    Then he said, "What is that monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.
  17. Cross References
    1 Kings 13:2
    And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord : 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'
    2 Kings 23:16 - 19
    And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.
  18. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:31
    He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.
  19. Cross References
    1 Kings 16:24
    He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
  20. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:30
    Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.
    2 Kings 17:21
    When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin.
  21. Cross References
    1 Kings 14:10
    Therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.
    1 Kings 15:29 - 30
    And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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