1 Kings 13

A Prophet's Disobedience and the Consequences of Ignoring God's Command

6 min read

1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus says the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burnt on you.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD has spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.
4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, 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.
5 The 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.
6 And the king answered and said to the man of God, Entreat now the face of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God sought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
7 And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.
8 And the man of God said to the king, If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:
9 For 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 you came.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. ¶
11 Now there dwelled an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken to the king, them they told also to their father.
12 And their father said to them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
13 And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said to him, Are you the man of God that 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, I may not return with you, nor go in with you: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place:
17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that you came.
18 He said to him, I am a prophet also 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 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 to the prophet that brought him back:
21 And he cried to the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus says the LORD, For as much as you have disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,
22 But came back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to you, Eat no bread, and drink no water; your carcass shall not come to the sepulcher of your 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.
24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass.
25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelled.
26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke to him.
27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
28 And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass.
29 And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it on the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
30 And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulcher wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, 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: whoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
34 And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
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