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.”
16. “I can’t go home with you,” the man of God answered. “I can’t eat or drink with you in this place.
17. The Lord said to me, ‘Don’t eat or drink anything there or return on the same road by which you came.’ ”
18. Then the old prophet said, “But I also am a prophet like you.” Then he told a lie. He said, “An angel from the Lord came to me and told me to bring you to my home. He said you should eat and drink with me.”
19. So the man of God went to the old prophet’s house, and he ate and drank with him there.
20. While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke his word to the old prophet.
21. The old prophet cried out to the man of God from Judah, “The Lord said you did not obey him! He said you did not do what the Lord your God commanded you.
22. The Lord commanded you not to eat or drink anything in this place, but you came back and ate and drank. So your body will not be buried in your family grave.”