1Kings:13
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A man of God from Judah went to Bethel .
He arrived there while Jeroboam was at the altar ready to offer a sacrifice .
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He actually spoke against the altar : »
O altar ,
altar ,
this is what Jehovah says :
A child ,
whose name will be Josiah ,
will be born to the family of David .
He will slaughter the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you .
He will burn human bones on you .«
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The prophet went on to say : »
This altar will fall apart .
The ashes on it will be scattered .
Then you will know that Jehovah has spoken through me .«
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King Jeroboam heard this .
He pointed his outstretched hand at him and ordered : »
Seize that man !«
At once the king '
s arm became paralyzed so that he could not pull it back .
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The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground .
This is what the prophet predicted in the name of Jehovah .
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King Jeroboam said to the prophet : »
Please pray to Jehovah your God for me ,
and ask him to heal my arm !«
The prophet prayed to Jehovah and the king '
s arm was healed .
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Then the king said to the prophet : »
Come home with me and have something to eat .
I will reward you for what you have done .«
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The prophet answered :
Even if you gave me half of your wealth ,
I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you .
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I was ordered by the word of Jehovah ,
he said : »
You are not to take food or a drink of water ,
and you are not to go back the way you came .«
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So he went another way ,
and not by the way he came to Bethel .
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There was an old prophet living in Bethel .
His sons told him what the man of God had done that day in Bethel .
They reported what he said to the king .
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Their father asked : »
Which way did he go ?«
His sons saw which way the man of God went .
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So the prophet said to his sons : »
Saddle the donkey for me .«
So they saddled the donkey and he mounted it .
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He rode after the man of God .
He found him sitting under an oak tree . »
Are you the man of God who came from Judah ?»
He asked . «
I am .«
Came his reply .
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He said : »
Come back to the house with me and have a meal .«
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But the man of God from Judah replied : »
I may not go back with you or go into your house .
I will not take food or a drink of water with you in this place .
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Jehovah said to me :
You are not to take food or water there ,
or go back again by the way you came .«
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Then he said : »
I am a prophet like you .
An angel said to me by the word of Jehovah ,
Take him back with you and give him food and water .«
But he lied to him .
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So he went back with him ,
and had a meal in his house and a drink of water .
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But while they were seated at the table ,
the word of Jehovah came to the old prophet who had brought him back .
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Crying out to the man of God who came from Judah ,
he said : »
Jehovah says ,
because you have gone against the voice of Jehovah ,
and have not done as Jehovah ordered you ,
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but have come back ,
and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water ;
your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers .«
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After the meal he made the donkey ready for the prophet whom he had taken back .
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He went on his way .
A lion met him on the road and jumped him and killed him .
His dead body was stretched in the road with the donkey by its side .
The lion was by the body .
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Some people who passed by saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side .
They brought the news to the town where the old prophet lived .
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The old prophet heard about it and said : »
That is the prophet who disobeyed Jehovah
s command !
Jehovah sent the lion to attack and kill him ,
just as Jehovah said he would .«
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He said to his sons : »
Saddle my donkey for me .«
They did so .
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He rode away to find the prophet '
s body lying on the road .
The donkey and the lion were still standing by it .
The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey .
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The old prophet picked up the body and brought it back to Bethel on the donkey .
There he mourned over it and buried it .
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He buried it in his own family grave .
He and his sons mourned over it ,
saying : »
Oh my brother ,
my brother !«
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After the burial the prophet said to his sons : »
When I die ,
bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his .
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The words that he spoke at Jehovah
s command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true .«
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King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways .
He continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built .
He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one .
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This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam .
It brought about its ruin and total destruction from the face of the earth .