1And behold, a man of God came from Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel, while Jeroboam was standing upon the altar to burn an offering.2He called out against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, "Altar, altar, thus says the LORD: Behold, a son will be born to the house of David; Josiah will be his name, and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn offerings upon you, and human bones he will burn upon you."3On that day he gave a sign, saying, "This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: Behold, the altar will be torn and the ashes that are upon it will be poured out."4When the king heard the word of the man of God that he had called out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him!" But his hand that he stretched out against him withered, so that he could not draw it back to himself.5The altar was torn and the ashes were poured out from the altar, like the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.6The king answered and said to the man of God, "Please entreat the face of the LORD your God and pray for me, so that my hand may return to me." The man of God entreated the face of the LORD, and the hand of the king returned to him and became as at the first.7The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a gift."8But the man of God said to the king, "Even if you gave me half your house, I would not go with you, nor would I eat food or drink water in this place."9For this is what the LORD commanded me by his word: "You shall not eat food or drink water, and you shall not return by the way you came."10So he went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.11Now an old prophet was living in Bethel. His son came and told him everything the man of God had done that day in Bethel—the words he had spoken to the king—and they recounted them to their father.12Their father spoke to them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed him the way that the man of God had gone when he came from Judah.13He said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey, and he mounted it.14He went after the man of God and found him sitting under the oak. He said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" He said, "I am."15Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat some food."16But he replied, "I cannot return with you or go with you, nor may I eat food or drink water with you in this place."17For the word of the LORD came to me: "You shall not eat food or drink water there, and you shall not return by the way you came."18He said to him, "I also am a prophet like you, and a messenger spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat food and drink water.'" He deceived him.19So the man of God went back with him and ate food in his house and drank water.20While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back.21He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "Thus says the LORD: Because you have rebelled against the mouth of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you,22but came back and ate food and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink, your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers."23After the man of God had eaten the food and drunk, the prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him.24As he went, a lion found him on the way and killed him. His carcass was thrown on the way; the donkey stood beside it, and the lion stood beside the carcass.25And behold, men were passing by and saw the carcass thrown on the way and the lion standing beside the carcass, and they came and spoke in the city where the old prophet was dwelling.26When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God who rebelled against the mouth of the LORD; therefore the LORD gave him to the lion, and it broke him and killed him, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke to him."27He said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." They saddled it.28He went and found his carcass thrown on the way, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the carcass. The lion had not eaten the carcass nor broken the donkey.29The prophet lifted the carcass of the man of God and laid it upon the donkey, and he brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him.30He laid his carcass in his grave, and they mourned over him, saying, "Woe, my brother!"31After he had buried him, he said to his sons, saying, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones."32For the word that he called out by the word of the LORD against the altar that is in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.33After this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way but again appointed priests for the high places from among all the people. Whoever wished, he ordained, and they became priests of the high places.34This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to blot it out and destroy it from the face of the earth.