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11 Now an old prophet was living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to King Jeroboam. 12 The father asked, “Which road did he use when he left?” So his sons showed him the road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 Then the prophet told his sons to put a saddle on his donkey. So they saddled the donkey, and he ·left [mounted it].

14 He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. The prophet asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

The man answered, “Yes, I am.”

15 The prophet said, “Please come home and ·eat [L eat bread] with me.”

16 “I can’t go home with you,” the man of God answered. “I can’t ·eat or drink [L eat bread or drink water] with you in this place. 17 The Lord said to me, ‘Don’t ·eat or drink [L eat bread or drink water] there or return on the same road by which you came.’”

18 Then the old prophet said, “But I also am a prophet, like you.” Then he lied. “An angel from the Lord came to me and told me to bring you to my home. He said you should ·eat and drink [L eat bread and drink water] with me.” 19 So the man of God went to the old prophet’s house, and he ate ·and drank [L bread and drank water] with him there.

20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke his word to the ·old prophet [L prophet who had brought him back]. 21 ·The old prophet [L He] cried out to the man of God from Judah, “·The Lord said [T Thus says the Lord,] you ·did not obey him! He said you did not do what the Lord your God commanded you […have defied the Lord’s command]. 22 The Lord commanded you not to ·eat or drink [L eat bread or drink water] in this place, but you came back and ·ate and drank [L ate bread and drank water]. So your body will not ·be buried in your family grave [L come to the grave/tomb of your ancestors].”

23 After the man of God finished eating [L bread] and drinking, the prophet put a saddle on his donkey [C possibly the old prophet’s own donkey] for him, and the man left. 24 As he was traveling home, a lion ·attacked [L met] and killed him. His body lay on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing nearby. 25 Some men who were traveling by saw the body on the road and the lion standing nearby. So they went to the city [C Bethel] where the old prophet lived and told what they had seen.

26 The old prophet who had brought back the man of God heard what had happened. “It is the man of God who did not obey the Lord’s command,” he said. “So the Lord sent a lion to kill him, ·just as he said he would [L according to the word of the Lord].”

27 Then the prophet said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey,” and they saddled it. 28 The old prophet went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing nearby. The lion had not eaten the body or ·hurt [attacked; mauled] the donkey. 29 The prophet put the body on his donkey and carried it back to the city to ·have a time of sadness for him [mourn] and to bury him. 30 The prophet ·buried [laid] the body in his own family ·grave [tomb], and they ·were sad for [mourned over] the man of God and said, “·Oh [Alas; Woe], my brother.”

31 After the prophet buried the body, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in ·this same grave [L the grave in which the man of God is buried]. ·Put [Lay] my bones next to his. 32 Through him the Lord ·spoke [cried; proclaimed] against the altar at Bethel and against the ·places of worship [shrines/L houses of the high places; 3:2] in the towns of Samaria. What the Lord spoke through him will certainly come ·true [to pass].”

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The Disobedient Prophet

11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him everything 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 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13 He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it, 14 and he went after the man of God. And he found him sitting under an oak (terebinth) tree, 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 He said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going the way that you came.’” 18 He answered 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, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. 19 So the man of God went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

20 Now it happened as they were sitting 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 had come from Judah, “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 have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “You shall not eat bread nor drink water”; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers (ancestors).’” 23 After the prophet of the house had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 Now when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion was also standing beside the body. 25 And there were men passing by, and they saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing beside the body. So they came and told about it in the city [of Bethel] where the old prophet lived.

26 When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word 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 And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. 28 And he went and found the body thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion [miraculously] had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 Then the prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came into the city (Bethel) of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” 31 Then after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the words which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria shall certainly come to pass.”

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