1 Kings 13:1-10

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

A Man of God from Judah

13 A man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense.^{(A) 2} And he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.”^{(B) 3} He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: The altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.”^{(C) 4} When the king heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But the hand that he stretched out against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before.^{(D) 7} Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a gift.”^{(E) 8} But the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place.^{(F) 9} For thus I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.’ ” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.