1 Quando Jeroboão se aproximava do altar para queimar incenso ao bezerro-ídolo em ouro, um profeta do Senhor, vindo de Judá, dirigiu-se para ele, e à ordem do Senhor clamou assim, em alta voz: Ó altar, o Senhor manda dizer que uma criança chamada Josias nascerá na linha da descendência de David, o qual há-de sacrificar sobre ti esses sacerdotes do nichos das colinas e que aqui vêm queimar incenso; ossos de seres humanos se queimarão sobre ti.
3 Seguidamente deu a seguinte prova em como a sua mensagem fora ditada pelo Senhor: Este altar partir-se-á em dois e a cinza que nele está se espalhará pelo chão.
4 O rei ficou furioso pelo profeta ter dito semelhantes coisas e gritou para os guardas: Prendam esse homem!, dirigindo o punho fechado contra ele. Instantaneamente o seu braço ficou paralisado nessa posição, sem o poder recolher. No mesmo momento apareceu uma larga fenda no altar e as cinzas se derramaram, tal como o profeta tinha dito que havia de acontecer. Esta foi a prova em como Deus falara pela boca do profeta.
6 Oh, peço-te que rogues ao Senhor, teu Deus, gritou o rei para o profeta, que me faça recuperar o meu braço. Então ele orou ao Senhor, e o braço tornou-se normal.
7 O rei disse ao profeta: Vem comigo descansar e comer qualquer coisa. Quero recompensar-te.
8 No entanto o profeta respondeu-lhe: Ainda que me desses metade do teu palácio, não entraria nele, nem comeria ou beberia água sequer nessa casa! O Senhor deu-me ordens estritas para não comer nem beber o que quer que fosse enquanto aqui me encontrar, e até para não regressar a Judá pelo mesmo caminho.
10 E assim se foi embora por outra estrada.
11 Acontecia que vivia em Betel um velho profeta; seu filho veio para casa contar-lhe o que o profeta de Judá fizera e o que dissera ao rei.
12 Por que caminho se foi ele? E informaram-no.
13 Depressa, selem o meu jumento. E logo correu atrás do profeta, tendo-o encontrado sentado debaixo dum carvalho: És tu o profeta que veio de Judá? Sim, sou eu.
15 Vem a minha casa e come comigo.
16 Não, não posso. Não me é permitido comer nem beber seja o que for, nem sequer água, em Betel. Foram as ordens estritas que o Senhor me deu; mandou-me também que não regressasse pelo mesmo caminho.
18 Mas o ancião insistiu: Eu também sou profeta como tu, e um anjo deu-me uma mensagem da parte do Senhor. Devo pois levar-te para minha casa e dar-te de comer e de beber. No entanto o velho profeta estava a mentir. Voltaram assim os dois para trás e o profeta comeu algum alimento e bebeu água na casa do ancião.
20 Estavam eles à mesa e veio uma mensagem do Senhor ao profeta idoso, o qual exclamou para o profeta de Judá: O Senhor manda dizer-te que visto teres desobedecido às ordens claras que te tinham sido dadas, e viestes até aqui comer e beber água num sítio em que isso te tinha sido proibido, o teu corpo morto não será enterrado no túmulo dos teus pais.
23 Terminada a refeição, o ancião selou o jumento do profeta; este partiu de novo. Mas durante a viagem apareceu um leão que o matou. O seu corpo ficou ali no caminho, com o jumento e o leão ao lado. As pessoas que passaram por ali e viram o corpo jazendo no meio da estrada com o leão ao lado vieram contá-lo em Betel, onde vivia o velho profeta.
26 Quando este ouviu o que aconteceu, exclamou: É o profeta que desobedeceu à ordens do Senhor. O Senhor cumpriu a sua palavra, fazendo com que o leão o matasse.
27 Depois disse para os seus filhos: Selem-me o meu jumento! Assim fizeram. Ele foi e achou o corpo do profeta jazendo no caminho com o leão ainda ali ao lado sem ter comido o corpo nem atacado o jumento. O profeta pôs o corpo sobre o jumento, trouxe-o para a cidade para lhe fazer o funeral e o enterrar.
30 Colocou o corpo no seu próprio sepulcro, chorando por ele: Ah, meu irmão!
31 Depois disse para o filho: Quando morrer, enterrem-me no sepulcro em que está o profeta. Ponham os meus ossos ao lado dos seus. Pois que o Senhor mandou-lhe que clamasse contra o altar de Betel, e as suas maldições contra os nichos das cidades de Samaria certamente se cumprirão.
33 A despeito dos avisos do profeta, Jeroboão não se converteu dos seus maus caminhos; em vez disso, ordenou ainda mais sacerdotes do que antes, saídos da gente menos digna, para oferecerem sacrifícios aos ídolos nos nichos sobre as colinas. Quem quer que fosse que quisesse ser sacerdote podia sê-lo. Isto foi um grande pecado e foi a causa da destruição do reino de Jeroboão e da morte de toda a sua família.
1 And lo! a man of God, came in out of Judah, by the word of Yahweh, unto Bethel,as Jeroboam was standing by the altar, to make a perfume.
2 And he made proclamation against the altar, by the word of Yahweh, and said, O altar! altar! Thus, saith Yahweh,Lo! a son to be born unto the house of David, Josiah his name, who shall sacrifice upon thee the priests of the high-places, who are making a perfume upon thee, and, human bones, shall be burned upon thee;
3 and he shall give, on that day, a sign, saying, This, is the sign of which Yahweh hath spoken,Lo! the altar, is to be rent, and the ashes that are upon thee shall be, poured out!
4 And it came to pass, when the king heard the word of the man of God which he proclaimed against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam thrust forth his hand, from off the altar, sayingLay hold of him! and his hand which he had thrust forth against him was dried up, that he could not draw it back to him.
5 Moreover, the altar, was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar,according to the sign which the man of God had given, by the word of Yahweh.
6 Then responded the king and said unto the man of GodAppease, I pray thee, the face of Yahweh thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored unto me. So the man of God appeased the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king was restored unto him, and became as aforetime.
7 Then spake the king unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself,and let me give thee a present.
8 But the man of God said unto the kingIf thou wouldst give me the half of thy house, I would not go in with thee,neither would I eat bread or drink water, in this place;
9 for, so, he charged me, by the word of Yahweh, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor shalt thou drink water,neither shalt thou come back by the way thou wentest.
10 So he departed another way,and went not back by the way by which he came unto Bethel.
11 But, a certain aged prophet, was dwelling in Bethel,whose sons came in and related to him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Betheland the words which he had spoken unto the king, and they related them to their father.
12 And their father said unto them, Which way then went he? Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God went who had come in out of Judah.
13 So he said unto his sons, Saddle for me, the ass. And they saddled for him the ass, and he rode thereon;
14 and went after the man of God, and found him, sitting under an oak. And he said unto himArt, thou, the man of God who came in out of Judah? And he saidI am.
15 Then said he unto him, Come home with me,and eat bread.
16 And he saidI may not return with thee, nor go in with thee,neither will I eat bread or drink water with thee, in this place;
17 for there came a message unto me by the word of Yahweh, Thou shalt neither eat bread, nor drink water there,thou shalt not turn back to come by the way by which thou wentest.
18 And he said to him-I also, am a prophet, like unto thee, and, a messenger, hath spoken unto me, by the word of Yahweh, sayingBring him back with thee, into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And so it was, as, they, were sitting at the table, yea, so it was, that the word of Yahweh came unto the prophet who had brought him back;
21 and he cried out unto the man of God who had come in out of Judah, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh,Forasmuch as thou hast rebelled against the bidding of Yahweh, and hast not kept the commandment which Yahweh thy God commanded thee;
22 but hast returned, and eaten bread and drunk water, in the place of which he said unto thee, Thou mayest neither eat bread nor drink water: thy dead body shall not enter the burying-place of thy fathers.
23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 And, when he had gone, there met him a lion by the way, and slew him,and his dead body was cast out in the way, and, the ass, was standing near it, and, the lion, was standing near the dead body.
25 And lo! certain men, passing by, saw the dead body, cast out in the way, and the lion standing near the dead body,so they came in, and spake in the city, wherein, the aged prophet, dwelt.
26 And, when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he saidThe man of God, it is, who rebelled against the bidding of Yahweh,therefore did Yahweh deliver him unto the lion, and it hath torn him and slain him, according to the word of Yahweh which he spake unto him.
27 And he spake unto his sons, saying, Saddle for me the ass. And they saddled it.
28 So he went and found his dead body, cast out in the way, with, the ass and the lion, standing near the dead body,the lion had neither eaten the dead body, nor had it torn the ass.
29 And the prophet took up the dead body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back,and the aged prophet came into the city, to make lamentation, and to bury him.
30 And he laid his dead body in his own grave,and they lamented over him, Alas, my brother!
31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake unto his sons, saying, When I die, then shall ye bury me in the grave wherein the man of God is buried; beside his bones, lay my bones;
32 For the message which he proclaimed, by the ward of Yahweh, against the altar which is in Bethel,and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
33 After this thing, Jeroboam turned not from his wicked way,but again made, from the whole compass of the people, priests of high places, whomsoever he would, he installed, and he became priest of high places.
34 And so this thing became the sin of the house of Jeroboam,that it should be both taken away and destroyed, from off the face of the ground.