³That same day the man of God gave proof that these things would happen. “This is the Lord’s sign that this will happen,” he said. “This altar will break apart, and the ashes on it will fall to the ground.”

⁴When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God said about the altar in Bethel, the king raised his hand from the altar and pointed at the man. “Take him!” he said. But when the king said this, his arm was paralyzed, and he could not move it. ⁵The altar also broke into pieces, and its ashes fell to the ground. This was the sign the Lord had told the man of God to give.

⁶Then the king said to the man of God, “Please pray to the Lord your God for me, and ask him to heal my arm.”

So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king’s arm was healed, becoming as it was before.

⁷Then the king said to the man of God, “Please come home and eat with me, and I will give you a gift.”

⁸But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you gave me half of your kingdom, I would not go with you. I will not eat or drink anything in this place. ⁹The Lord commanded me not to eat or drink anything nor to return on the same road by which I came.” ¹⁰So he took a different road and did not return on the same road by which he had come to Bethel.

¹¹Now 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. ¹²The 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. ¹³Then the prophet told his sons to put a saddle on his donkey. So they saddled the donkey, and he left.

¹⁴He 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.”

¹⁵The prophet said, “Please come home and eat with me.”

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

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

²⁰While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke his word to the old prophet. ²¹The old prophet cried out to the man of God from Judah, “The Lord said you did not obey him! He said you did not do what the Lord your God commanded you.

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