Part 210 (1/2)

And he said, ”I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.'”

And he said unto him, ”I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'”

But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pa.s.s, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: and he cried unto the man of G.o.d that came from Judah, saying, ”Thus saith the Lord, 'Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which, the Lord thy G.o.d commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of the which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.'”

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE RUINS OF SAMARIA

From a photograph belonging to the Forbes Library, Northampton, Ma.s.s., and used by special permission

”To-day amid the peaceful beauty of the scene--the secluded vale covered with cornfields through which the winding streams flash and glisten into the hazy distance, and the gentle hill rises to the olives waving over its summit--it is possible to appreciate Isaiah's name for Samaria, the crown of the pride of Ephraim, the flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley. There by the entrance of the gate Ahab drew his sentence of death from the prophet of Jehovah; and there they washed his blood from his chariot, when they had brought him back to his burial.

There Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah and Jehu the priests of Baal.”

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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And it came to pa.s.s, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the a.s.s, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his body was cast in the way, and the a.s.s stood by it; the lion also stood by the body.

And, behold, men pa.s.sed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, ”It is the man of G.o.d who was disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke unto him.”

And he spoke to his sons, saying, ”Saddle me the a.s.s.”

And they saddled it.

And he went, and found his body cast in the way, and the a.s.s and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the a.s.s.

And the prophet took up the body of the man of G.o.d, and laid it upon the a.s.s, and brought it back: and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him.

And he laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, ”Alas, my brother!”

And it came to pa.s.s, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, ”When I am dead, then bury {362} me in the sepulcher wherein the man of G.o.d is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Israel, shall surely come to pa.s.s.”

After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

_How the King's Son Died_.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, ”Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam: and get thee to s.h.i.+loh; behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people. And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.”

And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to s.h.i.+loh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were blind by reason of his age.

And the Lord said unto Ahijah, ”Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to inquire of thee concerning her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.”

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