¹¹ Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. ¹² Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. ¹³ So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it ¹⁴ and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he replied.

¹⁵ So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”

¹⁶ The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread^(A) or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”

¹⁸ The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord:^(B) ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying^(C) to him.) ¹⁹ So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

²⁰ While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. ²¹ He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied^(D) the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. ²² You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”

²³ When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. ²⁴ As he went on his way, a lion^(E) met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. ²⁵ Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied^(F) the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.”

²⁷ The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. ²⁸ Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. ²⁹ So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. ³⁰ Then he laid the body in his own tomb,^(G) and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”^(H)

³¹ After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones^(I) beside his bones. ³² For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places^(J) in the towns of Samaria^(K) will certainly come true.”^(L)

³³ Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways,^(M) but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts^(N) of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. ³⁴ This was the sin^(O) of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction^(P) from the face of the earth.

Ahijah’s Prophecy Against Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, ² and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah^(Q) the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. ³ Take ten loaves of bread^(R) with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” ⁴ So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. ⁵ But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense?^(S) I have been sent to you with bad news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:^(T) ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler^(U) over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore^(V) the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right^(W) in my eyes. ⁹ You have done more evil^(X) than all who lived before you.^(Y) You have made for yourself other gods, idols^(Z) made of metal; you have aroused^(AA) my anger and turned your back on me.^(AB)

¹⁰ “‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster^(AC) on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.^[a](AD) I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.^{(AE) 11} Dogs^(AF) will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds^(AG) will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’

¹² “As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.^(AH)

¹⁴ “The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.^{[b] 15} And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot^(AI) Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused^(AJ) the Lord’s anger by making Asherah^(AK) poles.^{[c] 16} And he will give Israel up because of the sins^(AL) Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

¹⁷ Carrying his own cross,^(A) he went out to the place of the Skull^(B) (which in Aramaic^(C) is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others^(D)—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth,^(E) the king of the jews.^{(F) 20} Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,^(G) and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”^(H)

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴ “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled^(I) that said,

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Near the cross^(K) of Jesus stood his mother,^(L) his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.^{(M) 26} When Jesus saw his mother^(N) there, and the disciple whom he loved^(O) standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,^[b] here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus^(P)

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished,^(Q) and so that Scripture would be fulfilled,^(R) Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar^(S) was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”^(T) With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.