Jeroboam's Hand Withers

1And behold, there came a man of God out of Juda by the word of the Lord to Baethel, and Jeroboam stood at the altar to sacrifice. 2And he cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, Behold, a son is to be born to the house of David, Josias by name; and he shall offer upon thee the priests of the high places, even of them that sacrifice upon thee, and he shall burn men's bones upon thee. 3And in that day one shall give a sign, saying, This is the word which the Lord has spoken, saying, Behold, the altar is rent, and the fatness upon it shall be poured out. 4And it came to pass when king Jeroboam heard the words of the man of God who called on the altar that was in Baethel, that the king stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying, Take hold of him. And, behold, his hand, which he stretched forth against him, withered, and he could not draw it back to himself. 5And the altar was rent, and the fatness was poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God gave by the word of the Lord. 6And king Jeroboam said to the man of God, Intreat the Lord thy God, and let my hand be restored to me. And the man of God intreated the Lord, and he restored the king's hand to him, and it became as before. 7And the king said to the man of God, Enter with me into the house, and dine, and I will give thee a gift. 8And the man of God said to the king, If thou shouldest give me the half of thine house, I would not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread, neither will I drink water in this place; for thus the Lord charged me by his word, saying, 9Eat no bread, and drink no water, and return not by the way by which thou camest. 10So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way by which he came to Baethel.

The Prophet's Disobedience

11And there dwelt an old prophet in Baethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God did on that day in Baethel, and the words which he spoke to the king: and they turned the face of their father. 12And their father spoke to them, saying, Which way went he? and his sons shew him the way by which the man of God who came out of Juda went up. 13And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass: and they saddled him the ass, and he mounted it, 14and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said to him, Art thou the man of God that came out of Juda? And he said to him, I am. 15And he said to him, Come with me, and eat bread. 16And he said, I shall not by any means be able to return with thee, neither will I eat bread, neither will I drink water in this place. 17For thus the Lord commanded me by word, saying, Eat not bread there, and drink not water, and return not thither by the way by which thou camest. 18And he said to him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back to thee into thy house, and let him eat bread and drink water: but he lied to him. 19And he brought him back, and he ate bread and drank water in his house.

20And it came to pass while they were sitting at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back; 21and he spoke to the man of God that came out of Juda, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast resisted the word of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, 22but hast returned, and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he spoke to thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, and shalt not drink water; therefore thy body shall in nowise enter into the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23And it came to pass after he had eaten bread and drunk water, that he saddled the ass for him, and he turned and departed. 24And a lion found him in the way, and slew him; and his body was cast out in the way, and the ass was standing by it, and the lion also was standing by the body. 25And, behold, men were passing by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion was standing near the carcase: and they went in and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26And the prophet that turned him back out of the way heard, and said, This is the man of God who rebelled against the word of the Lord. 28And he went and found the body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion were standing by the body: and the lion had not devoured the body of the man of God, and had not torn the ass. 29And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on his ass; and the prophet brought him back to his city, to bury him in his own tomb, 30and they bewailed him, saying, Alas, brother. 31And it came to pass after he had lamented him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, Whenever I die, bury me in this tomb wherein the man of God is buried; lay me by his bones, that my bones may be preserved with his bones. 32For the word will surely come to pass which he spoke by the word of the Lord against the altar in Baethel, and against the high houses in Samaria.

33And after this Jeroboam turned not from his sin, but he turned and made of part of the people priests of the high places: whoever would, he consecrated him, and he became a priest for the high places. 34And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to its destruction and its removal from the face of the earth.