7. Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
8. But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything in this place.
9. For the lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”
10. So he left Bethel and went home another way.
11. As it happened, there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons came home and told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king.
12. The old prophet asked them, “Which way did he go?” So they showed their father which road the man of God had taken.
13. “Quick, saddle the donkey,” the old man said. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.
14. Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under a great tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”“Yes, I am,” he replied.
15. Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some food.”
16. “No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place.
17. For the lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”