And he criedagainst the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thussaith the LORD; Behold, a childshall be bornunto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upontheeshall he offer the priests of the highplacesthatburnincenseuponthee, and men’sbonesshall be burntuponthee.
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the signwhich the LORDhathspoken; Behold, the altarshall be rent, and the ashesthat are upon it shall be poured out.
And it came to pass, whenkingJeroboamheard the saying of the man of God, which had criedagainst the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his handfrom the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forthagainst him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
And the kinganswered and saidunto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king’shand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
And the man of God saidunto the king, If thouwiltgive me halfthinehouse, I will not go in withthee, neitherwill I eat bread nor drinkwater in thisplace:
Now theredwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sonscame and told him all the worksthat the man of God had donethat day in Bethel: the wordswhich he had spokenunto the king, themtheytoldalso to theirfather.
He saidunto him, I am a prophetalso as thou art; and an angelspakeunto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him backwiththeeintothinehouse, that he may eat bread and drinkwater. But he liedunto him.
And he criedunto the man of God thatcamefromJudah, saying, Thussaith the LORD, Forasmuch as thouhastdisobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandmentwhich the LORD thy God commandedthee,
But camestback, and hasteatenbread and drunkwater in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcaseshall not comeunto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lionalsostood by the carcase.
And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcasecast in the way, and the lionstanding by the carcase: and theycame and told it in the citywhere the old prophetdwelt.
And when the prophetthatbrought him backfrom the way heardthereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedientunto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORDhathdelivered him unto the lion, whichhathtorn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spakeunto him.
And he went and found his carcasecast in the way, and the ass and the lionstanding by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.
And the prophettook up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophetcame to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, thenbury me in the sepulchrewherein the man of God is buried; lay my bonesbeside his bones:
For the sayingwhich he cried by the word of the LORDagainst the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the highplaceswhich are in the cities of Samaria, shallsurelycome to pass.
AfterthisthingJeroboamreturned not from his evil way, but madeagain of the lowest of the peoplepriests of the highplaces: whosoeverwould, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the highplaces.