Jeroboam Warned, Stricken

13 Now behold, ^(A)a man of God came from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar ^(B)to burn incense. ² And ^(C)he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^(D)Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall burn on you.’” ³ Then he gave a ^[a]sign on the same day, saying, “^(E)This is the ^[b]sign which the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn to pieces and the ^[c]ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’” ⁴ Now when the king heard the statement of the man of God which he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But his hand which he had stretched out toward him dried up, and he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn to pieces and the ^[d]ashes were poured out from the altar, in accordance with the ^[e]sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ And the king responded and said to the man of God, “Please ^[f](F)appease the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” So ^(G)the man of God ^[g]appeased the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^(H)I will give you a gift.” ⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “^(I)If you were to give me half your house, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For so ^[h]it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel.

The Disobedient Prophet

¹¹ Now ^(J)an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his ^[i]sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they reported to their father. ¹² And their father said to them, “^[j]Which way did he go?” Now his sons ^[k]had seen the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. ¹⁴ So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under ^[l]an oak; and 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 But he said, “^(K)I cannot return with you, nor come with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For a ^[m]command came to me ^(L)by the word of the Lord: ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way that you came.’” ¹⁸ Then he said to him, “^(M)I too am a prophet like you, and ^(N)an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But ^(O)he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ Now it came about, as they were sitting down 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, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you have ^[n]disobeyed the ^[o]command of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “You are not to eat bread nor drink water”; your dead body will not come to the grave of your fathers.’” ²³ It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ Now when he had gone, ^(P)a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told about it in the city where ^(Q)the old prophet had lived.

²⁶ Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God, who ^[p]disobeyed the ^[q]command of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷ Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸ Then he went and found his body thrown on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor ^[r]harmed the donkey. ²⁹ So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “^(R)Oh, my brother!” ³¹ And after he had buried him, he talked to his sons, saying, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; ^(S)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (T)For the thing will certainly come to pass which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar that is in Bethel, and ^(U)against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of ^(V)Samaria.”

³³ After this event, Jeroboam did not ^[s]abandon his evil way, but he ^(W)again ^[t]appointed priests of the high places from ^[u]all the people; ^(X)anyone who wanted, he ordained, and he became ^[v]one of the priests of the high places. ^34 [w](Y)This event also became a sin of the house of Jeroboam, ^(Z)even to wipe it out and eliminate it from the face of the earth.

Think of Excellence

4 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, ^[a]whom I ^(A)long to see, my joy and crown, ^(B)stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

² I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to ^[b](C)live in harmony in the Lord. ³ Indeed, true ^[c]companion, I ask you also, help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement as well as the rest of my ^(D)fellow workers, whose ^(E)names are in the book of life.

^4 (F)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. ^(G)The Lord is ^[d]near. ^6 (H)Do not ^[e]be anxious about anything, but in everything by ^(I)prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And ^(J)the peace of God, which surpasses all ^[f]comprehension, will ^(K)guard your hearts and ^(L)minds in ^(M)Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, ^(N)whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is ^[g]lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen ^(O)in me, practice these things, and ^(P)the God of peace will be with you.

God’s Provisions

¹⁰ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last ^(Q)you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked an opportunity to act. ¹¹ Not that I speak ^[h]from need, for I have learned to be ^[i](R)content in whatever circumstances I am. ¹² I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going ^(S)hungry, both of having abundance and ^(T)suffering need. ¹³ I can do all things ^[j]through Him who ^(U)strengthens me. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, you have done well to ^(V)share with me in my difficulty.

¹⁵ You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the ^[k](W)first preaching of the gospel, after I left ^(X)Macedonia, no church ^(Y)shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone; ¹⁶ for even in ^(Z)Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. ^17 (AA)Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the ^[l]profit which increases to your account. ¹⁸ But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am ^[m]amply supplied, having received from ^(AB)Epaphroditus ^[n]what you have sent, ^[o](AC)a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And ^(AD)my God will supply ^[p]all your needs according to His ^(AE)riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Now to ^(AF)our God and Father ^(AG)be the glory ^[q]forever and ever. Amen.

²¹ Greet every ^[r]saint in Christ Jesus. ^(AH)The brothers who are with me greet you. ^22 (AI)All the ^[s](AJ)saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

^23 (AK)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ ^(AL)be with your spirit.