13And then this happened: Just as Jeroboam was at the Altar, about to make an offering, a holy man came from Judah by GOD's commandH935H376H430H3063H1697H3068H1008H3379H5975H4196H6999

2and preached (these were GOD's orders) to the Altar: "Altar, Altar! GOD's message! 'A son will be born into David's family named Josiah. The priests from the shrines who are making offerings on you, he will sacrifice—on you! Human bones burned on you!'"H7121H4196H1697H3068H559H4196H4196H559H3068H1121H3205H1004H1732H2977H8034H2076H3548H1116H6999H120H6106H8313

3At the same time he announced a sign: "This is the proof GOD gives—the Altar will split into pieces and the holy offerings spill into the dirt."H5414H4159H3117H559H4159H3068H1696H4196H7167H1880H8210

4When the king heard the message the holy man preached against the Altar at Bethel, he reached out to grab him, yelling, "Arrest him!" But his arm was paralyzed and hung useless.H4428H3379H8085H1697H376H430H7121H4196H1008H7971H3027H4196H559H8610H3027H7971H3001H3201H7725

5At the same time the Altar broke apart and the holy offerings all spilled into the dirt—the very sign the holy man had announced by GOD's command.H4196H7167H1880H8210H4196H4159H376H430H5414H1697H3068

6The king pleaded with the holy man, "Help me! Pray to your GOD for the healing of my arm." The holy man prayed for him and the king's arm was healed—as good as new!H4428H6030H559H376H430H2470H6440H3068H430H6419H3027H7725H376H430H2470H6440H3068H4428H3027H7725H7223

7Then the king invited the holy man, "Join me for a meal; I have a gift for you."H4428H1696H376H430H935H1004H5582H5414H4991

8The holy man told the king, "Not on your life! You couldn't pay me enough to get me to sit down with you at a meal in this place.H376H430H559H4428H5414H2677H1004H935H398H3899H8354H4325H4725

9I'm here under GOD's orders, and he commanded, 'Don't eat a crumb, don't drink a drop, and don't go back the way you came.'"H6680H1697H3068H559H398H3899H8354H4325H7725H1870H1980

10Then he left by a different road than the one on which he had walked to Bethel.H3212H312H1870H7725H1870H935H1008

11There was an old prophet who lived in Bethel. His sons came and told him the story of what the holy man had done that day in Bethel, told him everything that had happened and what the holy man had said to the king.H3427H259H2205H5030H1008H1121H935H5608H4639H376H430H6213H3117H1008H1697H1696H4428H5608H1

12Their father said, "Which way did he go?" His sons pointed out the road that the holy man from Judah had taken.H1H1696H1870H1980H1121H7200H335H1870H376H430H1980H935H3063

13He told his sons, "Saddle my donkey." When they had saddled it, he got onH559H1121H2280H2543H2280H2543H7392

14and rode after the holy man. He found him sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, "Are you the holy man who came from Judah?" "Yes, I am," he said.H3212H310H376H430H4672H3427H424H559H376H430H935H3063H559

15"Well, come home with me and have a meal."H559H3212H1004H398H3899

16"Sorry, I can't do that," the holy man said. "I can neither go back with you nor eat with you in this country.H559H3201H7725H935H398H3899H8354H4325H4725

17I'm under strict orders from GOD: 'Don't eat a crumb; don't drink a drop; and don't come back the way you came.'"H1697H1697H3068H398H3899H8354H4325H7725H3212H1870H1980

18But he said, "I am also a prophet, just like you. And an angel came to me with a message from GOD: 'Bring him home with you, and give him a good meal!'" But the man was lying.H559H5030H4397H1696H1697H3068H559H7725H1004H398H3899H8354H4325H3584

19So the holy man went home with him and they had a meal together.H7725H398H3899H1004H8354H4325

20There they were, sitting at the table together, when the word of GOD came to the prophet who had brought him back.H3427H7979H1697H3068H5030H7725

21He confronted the holy man who had come from Judah: "GOD's word to you: You disobeyed GOD's command; you didn't keep the strict orders your GOD gave you;H7121H376H430H935H3063H559H559H3068H3282H4784H6310H3068H8104H4687H3068H430H6680

22you came back and sat down to a good meal in the very place GOD told you, 'Don't eat a crumb; don't drink a drop.' For that you're going to die far from home and not be buried in your ancestral tomb."H7725H398H3899H8354H4325H4725H1696H398H3899H8354H4325H5038H935H6913H1

23When the meal was over, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.H310H398H3899H310H8354H2280H2543H5030H7725

24Down the road a way, a lion met him and killed him. His corpse lay crumpled on the road, the lion on one side and the donkey on the other.H3212H738H4672H1870H4191H5038H7993H1870H2543H5975H681H738H5975H5038

25Some passersby saw the corpse in a heap on the road, with the lion standing guard beside it. They went to the village where the old prophet lived and told what they had seen.H582H5674H7200H5038H7993H1870H738H5975H681H5038H935H1696H5892H2205H5030H3427

26When the prophet who had gotten him off track heard it, he said, "It's the holy man who disobeyed GOD's strict orders. GOD turned him over to the lion who knocked him around and killed him, just as GOD had told him."H5030H7725H1870H8085H559H376H430H4784H6310H3068H3068H5414H738H7665H4191H1697H3068H1696

27The prophet told his sons, "Saddle my donkey." They did it.H1696H1121H559H2280H2543H2280

28He rode out and found the corpse in a heap in the road, with the lion and the donkey standing there. The lion hadn't bothered either the corpse or the donkey.H3212H4672H5038H7993H1870H2543H738H5975H681H5038H738H398H5038H7665H2543

29The old prophet loaded the corpse of the holy man on his donkey and returned it to his own town to give it a decent burial.H5030H5375H5038H376H430H3240H2543H7725H2205H5030H935H5892H5594H6912

30He placed the body in his own tomb. The people mourned, saying, "A sad day, brother!"H3240H5038H6913H5594H1945H251

31After the funeral, the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the same tomb where the holy man is buried, my bones alongside his bones.H310H6912H559H1121H559H4191H6912H6913H376H430H6912H3240H6106H681H6106

32The message that he preached by GOD's command against the Altar at Bethel and against all the sex-and-religion shrines in the towns of Samaria will come true."H1697H7121H1697H3068H4196H1008H1004H1116H5892H8111

33After this happened, Jeroboam kept right on doing evil, recruiting priests for the forbidden shrines indiscriminately—anyone who wanted to could be a priest at one of the local shrines.H310H1697H3379H7725H7451H1870H6213H7725H7098H5971H3548H1116H2655H4390H3027H3548H1116

34This was the root sin of Jeroboam's government. And it was this that ruined him.H1697H2403H1004H3379H3582H8045H6440H127