Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 215
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| 13:7-26
SAMUEL–KINGS
203
Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and
have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.”
But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of every
thing you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat or drink anything
in this place. For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or
drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same
way you came.’” So he left Bethel and went home another way.
As it happened, there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons
came home and told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that
day. They also told their father what the man had said to the king. The old
prophet asked them, “Which way did he go?” So they showed their father
which road the man of God had taken. “Quick, saddle the donkey,” the old
man said. So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.
Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under a great
tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from
Judah?”
“Yes, I am,” he replied.
Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some
food.”
“No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything
here in this place. For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not
eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by
the same way you came.’”
But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And
an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with
you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying
to him. So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at
the prophet’s home.
Then while they were sitting at the table, a command from the Lord
came to the old prophet. He cried out to the man of God from Judah, “This
is what the Lord says: You have defied the word of the Lord and have
disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 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.”
After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old
prophet saddled his own donkey for him, and the man of God 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. People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the
lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where
the old prophet lived.
When the prophet heard the report, he said, “It is the man of God who