1. The Lord commanded a man of God from Judah to go to Bethel. When he arrived, Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer a sacrifice.
2. The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. The man said, “Altar, altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David’s family will have a son named Josiah. The priests for the places of worship now make their sacrifices on you, but Josiah will sacrifice those priests on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’ ”
3. That same day the man of God gave proof that these things would happen. “This is the Lord’s sign that this will happen,” he said. “This altar will break apart, and the ashes on it will fall to the ground.”
4. When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God said about the altar in Bethel, the king raised his hand from the altar and pointed at the man. “Take him!” he said. But when the king said this, his arm was paralyzed, and he could not move it.
5. The altar also broke into pieces, and its ashes fell to the ground. This was the sign the Lord had told the man of God to give.
6. Then the king said to the man of God, “Please pray to the Lord your God for me, and ask him to heal my arm.”So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king’s arm was healed, becoming as it was before.
7. Then the king said to the man of God, “Please come home and eat with me, and I will give you a gift.”
8. But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you gave me half of your kingdom, I would not go with you. I will not eat or drink anything in this place.
9. The Lord commanded me not to eat or drink anything nor to return on the same road by which I came.”
10. So he took a different road and did not return on the same road by which he had come to Bethel.
11. Now an old prophet was living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to King Jeroboam.
12. The father asked, “Which road did he use when he left?” So his sons showed him the road the man of God from Judah had taken.
13. Then the prophet told his sons to put a saddle on his donkey. So they saddled the donkey, and he left.
14. He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. The prophet asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”The man answered, “Yes, I am.”
15. The prophet said, “Please come home and eat with me.”