1. A man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to burn incense.
2. He cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: “Altar, altar, thus says the Lord: A child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, who shall slaughter upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and they shall burn human bones upon you.”
3. He also gave a sign that same day and said: “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: The altar shall be torn apart and the ashes on it shall be scattered.”
4. When the king heard the word of the man of God which he was crying out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched forth his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched forth against him withered, so that he could not draw it back.
5. (The altar was torn apart and the ashes from the altar were scattered, in accordance with the sign the man of God gave by the word of the Lord.)
6. Then the king said to the man of God, “Entreat the Lord, your God, and intercede for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored as it was before.
7. The king told the man of God, “Come with me to the house for some refreshment so that I may give you a present.”
8. The man of God said to the king, “If you gave me half your palace, I would not go with you, nor eat bread or drink water in this place.
9. For I was instructed by the word of the Lord: Do not eat bread or drink water, and do not return by the way you came.”
10. So he departed by another road and did not go back the way he had come to Bethel.
11. There was an old prophet living in Bethel, whose son came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. When his sons repeated to their father the words the man of God had spoken to the king,
12. the father asked them, “Which way did he go?” So his sons pointed out to him the road taken by the man of God who had come from Judah.
13. Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled it, he mounted
14. and followed the man of God, whom he found seated under a terebinth. When he asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” he answered, “Yes.”
15. Then he said, “Come home with me and have some bread.”