1 Kings 13:11-32
The Voice
11 There was an old prophet who lived in Bethel. The old prophet’s sons heard about the sign the man of God had performed and about the words he spoke to the king, and they relayed these things to their father.
Prophet (to his sons): 12 Where did the man of God go? I would like to see him.
The old prophet’s sons had seen which way the man of God from Judah had gone, so they told their father which direction to take.
Prophet (to his sons): 13 Get the donkey ready. I’m going to find the man of God.
The old prophet’s sons saddled the donkey, and the father got on it and went to find the man of God. 14 Along his journey, he found the man of God resting beneath an oak tree.
Prophet (to the man of God): There’s been talk of a man of God from Judah who performed a sign for Jeroboam. Are you that man?
Man of God: Yes, I am.
Prophet: 15 Accompany me back to my house, and eat my bread. Surely you must be hungry.
Man of God: 16 I will not accompany you to your house, and I will not eat your bread or drink your water here. 17 The Eternal One gave me clear instructions when He said, “While you are there, do not eat a crumb or drink water. Do not travel back the way you came.”
Prophet: 18 But you see, I, too, am a prophet, just as you are. One of the Eternal’s heavenly messengers brought me this word of the Eternal: “Escort the man of God back to your house, feed him your bread, and let him drink your water.”
But the old prophet lied. 19 The man of God trusted the old prophet and accompanied him back to his house, where he ate bread and drank water.
20 While they were sitting at the prophet’s table, the Eternal gave a grim message to the prophet who brought the man of God to his house. 21 He spoke it to the man of God who was from Judah.
Prophet: This is the urgent message of the Eternal One: You have strayed from His strict instructions. You have not honored the command of the Eternal, your True God. 22 Instead, you have eaten bread and drunk water here, even after He gave you this instruction: “Do not eat a crumb or drink water while you are there.” Therefore you will not be buried in the place of your fathers.
To be buried away from one’s family is the ultimate curse. In ancient Israel, a connection is retained between the living and the dead. The ancestors are to be buried somewhere on the family land, legally securing forever the land for the living family members. The living family members, by taking care of that land, care for their ancestors in the afterlife. If someone is buried away from his ancestral home, then the quality of his afterlife is in question.
23 After having a sobering meal and some water, the prophet prepared his donkey for the man of God. 24 While the man of God was traveling on the donkey, he was killed by a lion and his body fell to the ground, right in the middle of the road. 25 It was the strangest sight, for the donkey and the lion both remained standing beside the man’s body. People walked by on the road and saw the body of the man of God with the lion standing beside it. The people brought word of this strange sight to the city of the old prophet.
Prophet (hearing the news): 26 The dead body is that of the man of God. He strayed from the Eternal’s strict directions so He has sent the lion to tear him to pieces and kill him, just as He said would happen.
27 (to his sons) Prepare the donkey so that I can ride it. I must go retrieve the body of the man of God.
And so his sons saddled the donkey for him. 28 The prophet traveled to the body of the man of God. The donkey and the lion remained standing beside it on the road. The strange thing is that the lion had not tried to eat any of the dead body or kill the donkey. 29 The prophet gathered up the lifeless body of the man of God and placed it on the donkey, then he led the donkey back to the old prophet’s city where he grieved for the man of God and gave him a proper burial. 30 The prophet buried the man of God in his own grave; and everyone grieved for him, crying out, “I’m so sorry, brother!” 31 After the prophet had buried the man of God, he spoke to his sons.
Prophet: When death takes me someday, I want you to bury me in the same grave as the man of God, so that my bones rest next to his bones. This will be an honor for me. 32 The words he cried out against the altar in Bethel and against the high places in the Samaritan towns will surely happen, for those words were the Eternal’s message.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
