1st Kings — 13

A Nabym (Prophet) Denounces Yarubuam 

1 At 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s command, a servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH from Yahudah went to Bathal, arriving there just as Yarubuam was approaching the altar to burn incense. 

2 Then at 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar: A child named Yusyahu will be born into the dynasty of Daud. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and men's bone will be burned.” 

3 That same day the servant of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH gave a sign to prove his message, he said, “𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground.”

4 When King Yarubuam heard the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH speaking against the altar at Bathal, he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back. 

5 At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH had predicted in his message from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.

6 The king cried out to the servant of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH, “Please ask 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH your 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH to restore my hand again!” So the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH prayed to  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, and the king’s hand was restored and he could move it again.

7 Then the king said to the servant of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH, “Come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”

8 But the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything in this place. 

9 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Yahudah by the same way you came.’” 

10 So he left Bathal and went home another way.

11 As it happened, there was an old Nabym (prophet) living in Bathal, and his sons came home and told him what the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH had done in Bathal that day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king. 

12 The old Nabym asked them, “Which way did he go?” So they showed their father which road the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH had taken. 

13 “Quick, saddle the donkey,” the old man said. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.

14 Then he rode after the servant of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH and found him sitting under a great tree. The old Nabym asked him, “Are you the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH who came from Yahudah? “Yes, I am,” he replied.

15 Then he said to the servant of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

16 “He replied, No I cannot, “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. 

17 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Yahudah by the same way you came.’”

18 But the old Nabym answered, “I am a Nabym too, just as you are. And a Malak gave me this command from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. 

19 So they went back together, and the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH ate and drank at the Nabym’s home.

20 Then while they were sitting at the table, a command from  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH came to the old Nabym. 

21 He cried out to the servant of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH from Yahudah, “This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH says: You have defied the Dabar of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH and have disobeyed the command  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH your 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH gave you. 

22 You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors.”

23 After the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH had finished eating and drinking, the old Nabym saddled his own donkey for him, 

24 and the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH  started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him, his body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 

25 People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bathal, where the old Nabym lived.

26 When the Nabym heard the report, he said, “It is the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH  who disobeyed 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s command, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has fulfilled HIS Dabar by causing the lion to attack and kill him.”

27 Then the Nabym said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey,

28 and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 

29 So the Nabym laid the body of the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him. 

30 He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, “Oh, my brother!”

31 Afterward the Nabym said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the servant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. 

32 For the message 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH told him to proclaim against the altar in Bathal and against the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

33 But even after this, Yarubuam did not turn from his evil ways, he continued to choose priests from the common people, he appointed anyone who wanted to become a priest for the pagan shrines. 

34 This became a great sin and resulted in the utter destruction of Yarybuam’s dynasty from the face of the Arath.