Et ecce vir Dei venit de Juda in sermone Domini in Bethel, Jeroboam stante super altare, et thus jaciente.

At that very moment, as Jeroboam stood at the altar and cast the incense down, a prophet came to Bethel, sent by the Lord from Juda;

And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of the Lord to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and burning incense.

Et exclamavit contra altare in sermone Domini, et ait: Altare, altare, hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce filius nascetur domui David, Josias nomine, et immolabit super te sacerdotes excelsorum, qui nunc in te thura succendunt: et ossa hominum super te incendet.

and in the Lord’s name he cried aloud against the altar, Listen, thou altar, listen to a message from the Lord. I see a prince that is to come, born of David’s race, Josias by name, that shall sacrifice on thee the very priests who now feed thee with incense; the bones of dead men shall be thy sacrifice.

And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born to the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men’s bones upon thee.

Deditque in illa die signum, dicens: Hoc erit signum quod locutus est Dominus: ecce altare scindetur, et effundetur cinis qui in eo est.

And he offered them proof, there and then; Here is a sign, he told them, to prove that this message comes from the Lord; see if this altar does not fall apart, and spill the ashes it holds!

And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign, that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

Cumque audisset rex sermonem hominis Dei quem inclamaverat contra altare in Bethel, extendit manum suam de altari, dicens: Apprehendite eum. Et exaruit manus ejus quam extenderat contra eum, nec valuit retrahere eam ad se.

So cried the prophet against the altar at Bethel; and the king, hearing it, lifted his hand from the altar, pointed to the prophet and cried, Seize him! With that, his outstretched hand withered up; no more could he bring it back to his side;

And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched forth against him withered: and he was not able to draw it back again to him.

Altare quoque scissum est, et effusus est cinis de altari, juxta signum quod prædixerat vir Dei in sermone Domini.

and meanwhile, the altar fell apart, spilling its ashes; the very sign which the Lord had inspired his prophet to foretell.

The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before in the word of the Lord.

Et ait rex ad virum Dei: Deprecare faciem Domini Dei tui, et ora pro me, ut restituatur manus mea mihi. Oravitque vir Dei faciem Domini, et reversa est manus regis ad eum, et facta est sicut prius fuerat.

Plead with the Lord thy God, the king said to him, and pray for me, that I may have the use of my hand again. So the prophet entreated God’s mercy for him, and his hand was restored to him, as sound as before.

And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.

Locutus est autem rex ad virum Dei: Veni mecum domum ut prandeas, et dabo tibi munera.

And now the king would have the prophet come home with him to take food, and to be rewarded with gifts,

And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine, and I will make thee presents.

Responditque vir Dei ad regem: Si dederis mihi mediam partem domus tuæ, non veniam tecum, nec comedam panem, neque bibam aquam in loco isto:

but he answered, Thou mightest offer me half thy kingdom before I would come with thee, before a crust of bread or a drop of water should pass my lips.

And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me half thy house I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place:

sic enim mandatum est mihi in sermone Domini præcipientis: Non comedes panem, neque bibes aquam, nec reverteris per viam qua venisti.

Such is the charge the Lord’s word laid upon me; I must neither eat nor drink, nor go home by the way I came hither.

For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me: Thou shalt not eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the same way that thou camest.

Abiit ergo per aliam viam, et non est reversus per iter quo venerat in Bethel.

So he set out home by another road, not retracing the journey by which he had come to Bethel.

So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that he came into Bethel.

Prophetes autem quidam senex habitabat in Bethel: ad quem venerunt filii sui, et narraverunt ei omnia opera quæ fecerat vir Dei illa die in Bethel: et verba quæ locutus fuerat ad regem, narraverunt patri suo.

There was an old seer dwelling at Bethel, whose sons came and told him what deeds the prophet of God had done in the town that day; told what words had passed, too, between him and the king.

Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came to him and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

Et dixit eis pater eorum: Per quam viam abiit? Ostenderunt ei filii sui viam per quam abierat vir Dei, qui venerat de Juda.

Whereupon their father asked what road he had taken, this prophet from Juda; and when he had found out this from his sons,

And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda.

Et ait filiis suis: Sternite mihi asinum. Qui cum stravissent, ascendit,

he bade them saddle the ass for him. Saddle it they did, and he mounted,

And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had saddled him, he got up,

et abiit post virum Dei, et invenit eum sedentem subtus terebinthum: et ait illi: Tune es vir Dei qui venisti de Juda? Respondit ille: Ego sum.

and went out in search of the prophet, whom he found sitting under an oak-tree. Asking whether he were the prophet from Juda, and learning that he was,

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God that camest from Juda? He answered: I am.

Dixitque ad eum: Veni mecum domum, ut comedas panem.

he bade him come home and share his meal.

And he said to him: Come home with me, to eat bread.

Qui ait: Non possum reverti, neque venire tecum: nec comedam panem, neque bibam aquam in loco isto,

But the other said, I must not turn back and go with thee, must not take food or drink here;

But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water in this place:

quia locutus est Dominus ad me in sermone Domini, dicens: Non comedes panem, et non bibes aquam ibi, nec reverteris per viam qua ieris.

when the Lord spoke to me, it was part of his message that I must neither eat nor drink at Bethel, nor leave it by the way I entered it.

Because the Lord spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor return by the way thou wentest.

Qui ait illi: Et ego propheta sum similis tui: et angelus locutus est mihi in sermone Domini, dicens: Reduc eum tecum in domum tuam, ut comedat panem, et bibat aquam. Fefellit eum,

But he would take no denial; I too, said he, am a prophet like thyself, and an angel has brought me a message from the Lord that I am to take thee home and give thee food and drink. With such words the prophet was beguiled,

He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an angel spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him,

et reduxit secum: comedit ergo panem in domo ejus, et bibit aquam.

and went back to eat and drink with him.

And brought him back with him: so he ate bread and drank water in his house.

Cumque sederent ad mensam, factus est sermo Domini ad prophetam qui reduxerat eum.

Even as they sat at table, the Lord’s word came to the seer that had detained him.

And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back:

Et exclamavit ad virum Dei qui venerat de Juda, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus: Quia non obediens fuisti ori Domini, et non custodisti mandatum quod præcepit tibi Dominus Deus tuus,

A message from the Lord, cried he to the prophet from Juda. Thou hast disobeyed him; he, the Lord thy God, gave thee a strict injunction, and thou hast not kept it.

And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

et reversus es, et comedisti panem, et bibisti aquam in loco in quo præcepit tibi ne comederes panem neque biberes aquam, non inferetur cadaver tuum in sepulchrum patrum tuorum.

Thou hast turned back, there to eat and drink where he bade thee leave food and drink untasted. For thy punishment, thy body shall not be laid to rest in the burying-place of thy fathers.

And hast returned and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers.

Cumque comedisset et bibisset, stravit asinum suum prophetæ quem reduxerat.

When their meal was done, he saddled his own ass for the prophet, his guest.

And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the prophet, whom he had brought back.

Qui cum abiisset, invenit eum leo in via, et occidit, et erat cadaver ejus projectum in itinere: asinus autem stabat juxta illum, et leo stabat juxta cadaver.

And he, setting out on his journey, met with a lion, that slew him. There lay his body on the open road, with the ass close by; the lion, too, remained standing there beside its prey.

And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him, and the lion stood by the dead body.

Et ecce viri transeuntes viderunt cadaver projectum in via, et leonem stantem juxta cadaver. Et venerunt, et divulgaverunt in civitate in qua prophetes ille senex habitabat.

Passers-by told how they had seen it, a lion standing beside a dead man’s body that lay in the road, when they reached the township where the old seer lived,

And behold, men passing by saw the dead body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.

Quod cum audisset propheta ille qui reduxerat eum de via, ait: Vir Dei est, qui inobediens fuit ori Domini, et tradidit eum Dominus leoni, et confregit eum, et occidit juxta verbum Domini quod locutus est ei.

and when it come to his ears, he bethought him of his guest; It must be the prophet, said he, that was disobedient to the Lord’s command; the Lord has suffered this lion to maul and kill him, in fulfilment of the divine threat that was made to him.

And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and he hath torn him, and killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.

Dixitque ad filios suos: Sternite mihi asinum. Qui cum stravissent,

Then he bade his sons saddle him an ass; and when it was saddled,

And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had saddled it,

et ille abiisset, invenit cadaver ejus projectum in via, et asinum et leonem stantes juxta cadaver: non comedit leo de cadavere, nec læsit asinum.

he set out on his journey, and found the body lying there by the road with ass and lion standing over it; never a morsel of its prey had the lion eaten, and to the ass it did no harm.

And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of the dead body, nor hurt the ass.

Tulit ergo prophetes cadaver viri Dei, et posuit illud super asinum, et reversus intulit in civitatem prophetæ senis ut plangeret eum.

So the old seer took up the prophet’s body and put it on the ass, and returned with it to his own city, to mourn over the dead.

And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old prophet, to mourn for him.

Et posuit cadaver ejus in sepulchro suo, et planxerunt eum: Heu, heu mi frater!

In his own tomb he laid the corpse down, and they mourned for him, crying out, Alas, brother, alas the day!

And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas! my brother.

Cumque planxissent eum, dixit ad filios suos: Cum mortuus fuero, sepelite me in sepulchro in quo vir Dei sepultus est: juxta ossa ejus ponite ossa mea.

And after they had finished mourning, he said to his sons, When I die, bury me in this tomb where God’s prophet rests, laying my bones beside his.

And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.

Profecto enim veniet sermo quem prædixit in sermone Domini contra altare quod est in Bethel, et contra omnia fana excelsorum quæ sunt in urbibus Samariæ.

It will come true past all doubt, the threat which he uttered in the Lord’s name against the altar at Bethel, and the hill-shrines in the cities of Samaria.

For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord against the altar that is in Bethel: and against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of Samaria.

Post verba hæc non est reversus Jeroboam de via sua pessima, sed e contrario fecit de novissimis populi sacerdotes excelsorum: quicumque volebat, implebat manum suam, et fiebat sacerdos excelsorum.

All this notwithstanding, Jeroboam would not amend his sinful ways; still he appointed priests here and there and everywhere among the people, consecrating the first comer to minister at his hill-shrines.

After these words Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way: but on the contrary he made of the meanest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he filled his hand, and he was made a priest of the high places.

Et propter hanc causam peccavit domus Jeroboam, et eversa est, et deleta de superficie terræ.

So it was that the race of Jeroboam became tainted with guilt, doomed to perish and to leave no trace behind it.

And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut off and destroyed from the face of the earth.