1. And see, a man of Elohim went from Yehuḏah to Bĕyth Ěl by the word of יהוה, while Yaroḇ‛am was standing by the altar to burn incense.
2. And he cried out against the altar by the word of יהוה, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus said יהוה, ‘See, a son is to be born to the house of Dawiḏ, Yoshiyahu is his name. And on you he shall offer the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones be burned on you.’ ”
3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which יהוה has spoken: See, the altar is split apart, and the ashes on it is poured out.”
4. And it came to be when Sovereign Yaroḇ‛am heard the saying of the man of Elohim, who cried out against the altar in Bĕyth Ěl, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, dried up, so that he was unable to bring it back to him.
5. And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of Elohim had given by the word of יהוה.
6. And the sovereign answered and said to the man of Elohim, “Please appease the face of יהוה your Elohim, and pray for me, that my hand might be restored to me.” And the man of Elohim appeased the face of יהוה, and the sovereign’s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before.
7. The sovereign then said to the man of Elohim, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I give you a gift.”
8. But the man of Elohim said to the sovereign, “If you were to give me half your house, I do not go in with you, nor do I eat bread nor drink water in this place.
9. “For so He commanded me by the word of יהוה, saying, ‘Do not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ”
10. So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bĕyth Ěl.
11. And a certain old prophet was dwelling in Bĕyth Ěl, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of Elohim had done that day in Bĕyth Ěl, the words which he had spoken to the sovereign.