A prophet condemned the altar at Bethel

1One day a prophet, obeying what Yahweh commanded him to do, went from Judah north to Bethel. He arrived there right at the time that Jeroboam was standing at the altar, ready to burn incense.

2Saying what Yahweh told him to say, the prophet shouted, “This is what Yahweh says about this altar [APO]: ‘I want you to know that some day a descendant [MTY] of King David will be born. His name will be Josiah, and he will come here. He will slaughter at this altar the priests who are burning incense for sacrifices on the hills in this area, and he will burn the bones of dead people on this altar.’” [APO]

3Then the prophet also said, “This is what will prove to you that Yahweh has said this: This altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be scattered.’”

4When King Jeroboam heard the prophet say that, he pointed his finger at him and said to his servants, “Seize that man!” But immediately the king’s arm became paralyzed/stiff, with the result that he could not move it.

5And the altar immediately split apart, and the ashes spilled out on the ground, which is what the prophet said that Yahweh [MTY] had predicted would happen.

6Then the king said to the prophet, “Please pray that Yahweh will be merciful to me and heal my arm!” So the prophet prayed, and Yahweh completely healed the king’s arm.

7Then the king said to the prophet, “Come home with me and eat some food. And I will also give you a reward for what you have done!”

8But the prophet replied, “Even if you would promise to give me half of everything that you own [MTY], I will not go with you, and I will not eat or drink anything with you here,

9because Yahweh commanded me not to eat or drink anything here. He also commanded me not to return home on the road on which I came here.”

10So he started to return home, but he did not go on the road on which he came to Bethel. He went on a different road.

The old prophet from Bethel

11At that time there was an old man living in Bethel who was a prophet. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done there on that day, and they also told him what the prophet had said to the king.

12Their father said, “On which road did he go?” So his sons showed him the road on which the prophet from Judah had gone when he left Bethel.

13Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that, and he got on the donkey.

14He went along the road to ◄find/catch up with► the prophet from Judah. He found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the prophet who came from Judah?” He replied, “Yes, I am.”

15The old prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

16He replied, “No, I am not allowed to go with you into your house, or to eat or drink anything with you,

17because Yahweh told me, ‘Do not eat or drink anything here, and do not return home on the road on which you came.’ ”

18Then the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, like you are. Yahweh sent an angel to tell me that I should take you home with me and give you some food and drink.” But the old man was lying when he said that.

19But because of what the old prophet said, the prophet from Judah returned with him to his home and ate some food and drank some water with him.

20While they were sitting at the table, Yahweh spoke to the old man.

21Then he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You have disobeyed him, and you have not done what he commanded you to do.

22Instead, you have come back here and had things to eat and drink in a place where he commanded you not to do that. As a result, you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in the grave where your ancestors are buried.’ ”

23When they had finished eating, the old man put a saddle on the donkey for the prophet from Judah, and the prophet from Judah left.

24But as he was going, a lion met him and killed him. The prophet’s corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was also standing beside the corpse.

25Some men passed by and were surprised to see the corpse on the road and the lion standing next to the corpse. So they went into Bethel and reported what they had seen.

26When the old man who had brought the prophet from Judah to his home heard about it, he said, “That is the prophet who disobeyed what Yahweh told him to do! That is why Yahweh allowed the lion to attack him and kill him. That is what Yahweh said would happen!”

27Then he said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So they did that.

28Then he rode on the donkey and found the prophet’s corpse on the road, and his donkey and the lion were still standing there alongside the corpse. But the lion had not eaten any of the flesh of the prophet and had not attacked the donkey.

29The old man picked up the corpse of the prophet and put it on his donkey and brought it back to Bethel, in order to mourn for him and to bury his corpse.

30He buried the prophet’s corpse in the grave where other people in his family had been buried. Then he and his sons mourned for him, saying, “We are very sorry, my brother!”

31After they had buried him, the old man said to his sons, “When I die, bury my corpse in the grave where we buried the prophet from Judah. Lay my corpse next to his corpse.

32And do not forget what he said, because the things that Yahweh told him to say about the altar in Bethel, and about the shrines on the hills in the towns in Samaria, will surely happen.”

33But King Jeroboam still did not turn away from continuing to do evil things. Instead, he appointed more priests who were not descended from Levi. Anyone who wanted to be a priest, he appointed to be a priest, in order that he could offer sacrifices on the hills.

34Because he committed that sin, a few years later God got rid of most of Jeroboam’s descendants and did not allow them to become kings of Israel.