²⁰ Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all ^(A)Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah ^(B)only.

²¹ And when ^(C)Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of ^(D)Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But ^(E)the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, ^(F)for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Gold Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam ^(G)built^[a] Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built ^(H)Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: ²⁷ If these people ^(I)go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸ Therefore the king asked advice, ^(J)made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. ^(K)Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” ²⁹ And he set up one in ^(L)Bethel, and the other he put in ^(M)Dan. ³⁰ Now this thing became ^(N)a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ He made ^[b]shrines on the high places, ^(O)and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³² Jeroboam ^[c]ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like ^(P)the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. ^(Q)And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³ So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had ^(R)devised in his own heart. And he ^[d]ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and ^(S)burned incense.

The Message of the Man of God

13 And behold, ^(T)a man of God went from Judah to Bethel ^[e]by the word of the Lord, ^(U)and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. ² Then he cried out against the altar ^[f]by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, ^(V)Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be ^(W)burned on you.’ ” ³ And he gave ^(X)a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”

⁴ So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please ^(Y)entreat the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”

So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^(Z)I will give you a reward.”

⁸ But the man of God said to the king, ^(AA)“If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. ⁹ For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ^(AB)‘You shall 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 Bethel.

Death of the Man of God

¹¹ Now an ^(AC)old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his ^[g]sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. ¹² And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons ^[h]had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, ¹⁴ and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

And he said, “I am.”

¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

¹⁶ And he said, ^(AD)“I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For ^[i]I have been told ^(AE)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”

¹⁸ He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)

¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰ Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹ and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the ^(AF)place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”

²³ So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ When he was gone, ^(AG)a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. ²⁵ And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

²⁶ Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷ And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. ²⁸ Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. ²⁹ And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. ³⁰ Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, ^(AH)“Alas, my brother!” ³¹ So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; ^(AI)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (AJ)For the ^[j]saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the ^[k]shrines on the high places which are in the cities of ^(AK)Samaria, will surely come to pass.”

^33 (AL)After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. ^34 (AM)And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as ^(AN)to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.

Saul at Jerusalem

²⁶ And ^(A)when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. ^27 (B)But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, ^(C)and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ So ^(D)he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. ²⁹ And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the ^(E)Hellenists,^{[a] (F)}but they attempted to kill him. ³⁰ When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus.

The Church Prospers

^31 (G)Then the ^[b]churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were ^(H)edified.^[c] And walking in the ^(I)fear of the Lord and in the ^(J)comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were ^(K)multiplied.

Aeneas Healed

³² Now it came to pass, as Peter went ^(L)through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. ³³ There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. ³⁴ And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, ^(M)Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately. ³⁵ So all who dwelt at Lydda and ^(N)Sharon saw him and ^(O)turned to the Lord.

Dorcas Restored to Life

³⁶ At Joppa there was a certain disciple named ^[d]Tabitha, which is translated ^[e]Dorcas. This woman was full ^(P)of good works and charitable deeds which she did. ³⁷ But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in ^(Q)an upper room. ³⁸ And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. ³⁹ Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter ^(R)put them all out, and ^(S)knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he ^(T)said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² And it became known throughout all Joppa, ^(U)and many believed on the Lord. ⁴³ So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with ^(V)Simon, a tanner.

The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion

A Song of Ascents.