(2 Kings 23:4–20; 2 Chronicles 34:3–7)
1
And behold, a man of God has come from Judah, by the word of YHWH, to Beth-El, and Jeroboam is standing by the altar—to make incense;
2
and he calls against the altar, by the word of YHWH, and says, “Altar! Altar! Thus said YHWH: Behold, a son is born to the house of David—Josiah [is] his name—and he has sacrificed on you the priests of the high places who are making incense on you, and bones of man are burned on you.”
3
And he has given a sign on that day, saying, “This [is] the sign that YHWH has spoken, Behold, the altar is torn, and the ashes that [are] on it [are] poured forth.”
4
And it comes to pass, at the king’s hearing the word of the man of God that he calls against the altar in Beth-El, that Jeroboam puts forth his hand from off the altar, saying, “Catch him”; and his hand that he has put forth against him is dried up, and he is not able to bring it back to himself,
5
and the altar is torn, and the ashes [are] poured forth from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of YHWH.
6
And the king answers and says to the man of God, “Please appease the face of your God YHWH, and pray for me, and my hand comes back to me”; and the man of God appeases the face of YHWH, and the hand of the king comes back to him, and it is as at the beginning.
7
And the king speaks to the man of God, “Come in with me to the house, and refresh yourself, and I give a gift to you.”
8
And the man of God says to the king, “If you give to me the half of your house, I do not go in with you, nor do I eat bread, nor do I drink water, in this place;
9
for so He commanded me by the word of YHWH, saying, You do not eat bread nor drink water, nor return in the way that you have come.”
10
And he goes on in another way, and has not turned back in the way in which he came in to Beth-El.
The Old Prophet and the Man of God
11
And a certain aged prophet is dwelling in Beth-El, and his son comes and recounts to him every deed that the man of God has done today in Beth-El, the words that he has spoken to the king—indeed, they recount them to their father.
12
And their father says to them, “Where [is] this—the way he has gone?” And his sons see the way that the man of God who came from Judah has gone.
13
And he says to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddle the donkey for him, and he rides on it,
14
and goes after the man of God, and finds him sitting under the oak, and says to him, “Are you the man of God who has come from Judah?” And he says, “I [am].”
15
And he says to him, “Come with me to the house and eat bread.”
16
And he says, “I am not able to return with you, and to go in with you, nor do I eat bread or drink water with you in this place,
17
for [there is] a word to me by the word of YHWH, You do not eat bread nor drink water there [and] you do not return to go in the way in which you came.”
18
And he says to him, “I [am] also a prophet like you, and a messenger spoke to me by the word of YHWH, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, and he eats bread and drinks water.” He has lied to him.
19
And he turns back with him, and eats bread in his house, and drinks water.
20
And it comes to pass—they are sitting at the table—and [there] is a word of YHWH to the prophet who brought him back,
21
and he calls to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus said YHWH: Because that you have provoked the mouth of YHWH, and have not kept the command that your God YHWH charged you,
22
and turn back and eat bread and drink water in the place of which He said to you, You do not eat bread nor drink water—your carcass does not come into the burying-place of your fathers.”
23
And it comes to pass, after his eating bread, and after his drinking, that he saddles the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back,
24
and he goes, and a lion finds him in the way, and puts him to death, and his carcass is cast in the way, and the donkey is standing near it, and the lion is standing near the carcass.
25
And behold, men are passing by, and see the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing near the carcass, and they come and speak [of it] in the city in which the old prophet is dwelling.
26
And the prophet who brought him back out of the way hears and says, “It [is] the man of God who provoked the mouth of YHWH, and YHWH gives him to the lion, and it destroys him, and puts him to death, according to the word of YHWH that he spoke to him.”
27
And he speaks to his sons saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddle [it].
28
And he goes and finds his carcass cast in the way, and the donkey and the lion are standing near the carcass—the lion has not eaten the carcass nor destroyed the donkey.
29
And the prophet takes up the carcass of the man of God, and places it on the donkey, and brings it back, and the old prophet comes to the city to mourn and to bury him,
30
and he places his carcass in his own grave, and they mourn for him, “Oh, my brother!”
31
And it comes to pass, after his burying him, that he speaks to his sons, saying, “At my death—you have buried me in the burying-place in which the man of God is buried; place my bones near his bones;
32
for the word certainly comes to pass that he called by the word of YHWH concerning the altar which [is in] Beth-El, and concerning all the houses of the high places that [are] in cities of Samaria.”
33
After this thing Jeroboam has not turned from his evil way, and turns back, and makes priests of high places from the extremities of the people; he who is desirous—he consecrates his hand, and he is of the priests of the high places.
34
And in this thing is the sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to cut [it] off, and to destroy [it] from off the face of the ground.
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