1 Kings 13:1–34

¹ Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. ² And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’” ³ That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’” ⁴ Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. ⁵ And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. ⁶ Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” ⁸ But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” ¹⁰ So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel. ¹¹ Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king. ¹² “Which way did he go?” their father asked. And his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God, who had come from Judah. ¹³ So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it ¹⁴ and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied. ¹⁵ So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.” ¹⁶ But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’” ¹⁸ Then the prophet replie…