---
title: "1 Kings 13 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/1-kings/13/
description: "A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and the… 1 Kings 13 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# 1 Kings 13

1 Kings 13 is chapter 13 of 22 in the First Book of Kings. Here are all 34 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and the destruction of Jeroboam's altar. Jeroboam's hand offering violence to the prophet withereth, but is restored by the prophet's prayer: the same prophet is deceived by another prophet, and slain by a lion.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## 1 Kings 13 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. And behold, by the word of the Lord, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing over the altar, and burning incense.
2. And by the word of the Lord, he cried out against the altar. And he said: “O altar, O altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. And upon you, he will immolate the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon you. And upon you, he will burn up the bones of men.’”
3. And he gave a sign on the same day, saying: “This will be the sign that the Lord has spoken. Behold, the altar shall be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.”
4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, he extended his hand from the altar, saying, “Apprehend him!” But his hand, which he had extended against him, withered. And he was unable to draw it back to himself.
5. Also, the altar was torn apart, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, in accord with the sign that the man of God had predicted by the word of the Lord.
6. And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God prayed before the face of the Lord, and the hand of the king was restored to him, and it became as it had been before.
7. Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home with me, so that you may dine. And I will give you gifts.”
8. And the man of God responded to the king: “Even if you will give me one half part of your house, I will not go with you, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place.
9. For so it was commanded to me by the word of the Lord, ordering: ‘You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water, nor shall you return by the way that you came.’”
10. Then he departed by another way, and he did not return along the way that he had traveled to Bethel.
11. Now a certain elderly prophet was living in Bethel. His sons went to him, and they described to him all the works which the man of God had accomplished on that day in Bethel. And they described to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.
12. And their father said to them, “By which way did he depart?” His sons showed him the way by which the man of God, who had come from Judah, had departed.
13. And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it, he climbed on,
14. and he went away after the man of God. And he found him sitting under a terebinth tree. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he responded, “I am.”
15. And he said to him, “Come home with me, so that you may eat bread.”
16. But he said: “I am not able to turn back, nor to go with you. Neither will I eat bread, or drink water in this place.
17. For the Lord has spoken to me, by the word of the Lord, saying, “You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water in that place, nor shall you return by the way that you arrived.”
18. And he said to him: “I, too, am a prophet like you. And an Angel spoke to me, by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Lead him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread, and drink water.’” And so he deceived him.
19. And he led him back with him. Then he ate bread and drank water in his house.
20. And while they were sitting at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had led him back.
21. And he cried out to the man of God who had arrived from Judah, saying: “Thus says the Lord: Because you were not obedient to the mouth of the Lord, and you did not keep the commandment that the Lord your God instructed to you,
22. and you turned back, and ate bread, and drank water in the place where he commanded you that you should not eat bread, nor drink water: your dead body shall not be carried back to the sepulcher of your fathers.”
23. And when he had eaten and had drunk, he saddled his donkey for the prophet whom he had led back.
24. And when he had departed, a lion found him along the way, and it killed him, and his dead body was left upon the road. Now the donkey was standing beside him. And the lion was standing beside the dead body.
25. And behold, men who were passing by saw the dead body lying in the road, with the lion standing beside the body. And they went and made it widely known in the city where that elderly prophet was living.
26. And when that prophet, who had led him back from the way, had heard it, he said: “It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord. And the Lord has delivered him to the lion. And it has torn him apart and killed him, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.”
27. And he said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” And when they had saddled it,
28. and he had departed, he found the dead body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the dead body. The lion did not eat from the dead body, nor did it harm the donkey.
29. Then the prophet took the dead body of the man of God, and he placed it upon the donkey, and returning, he brought it into the city of the elderly prophet, so that he might mourn for him.
30. And he placed his dead body in his own sepulcher. And they mourned for him, saying: “Alas! Alas! My brother!”
31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: “When I will have died, bury me in the sepulcher in which the man of God was buried. Place my bones beside his bones.
32. For certainly, the word will arrive, which he predicted by the word of the Lord, against the altar, which is in Bethel, and against all the shrines of the high places, which are in the cities of Samaria.”
33. After these words, Jeroboam did not turn back from his very evil way. Instead, to the contrary, he made priests for the high places out of the least of the people. Whosoever was willing, he filled his hand, and he became a priest of the high places.
34. And for this reason, the house of Jeroboam sinned, and was uprooted, and was wiped from the face of the earth.

## 1 Kings 13 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Et ecce vir Dei venit de Juda in sermone Domini in Bethel, Jeroboam stante super altare, et thus jaciente.
2. 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.
3. Deditque in illa die signum, dicens: Hoc erit signum quod locutus est Dominus: ecce altare scindetur, et effundetur cinis qui in eo est.
4. 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.
5. Altare quoque scissum est, et effusus est cinis de altari, juxta signum quod prædixerat vir Dei in sermone Domini.
6. 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.
7. Locutus est autem rex ad virum Dei: Veni mecum domum ut prandeas, et dabo tibi munera.
8. Responditque vir Dei ad regem: Si dederis mihi mediam partem domus tuæ, non veniam tecum, nec comedam panem, neque bibam aquam in loco isto:
9. sic enim mandatum est mihi in sermone Domini præcipientis: Non comedes panem, neque bibes aquam, nec reverteris per viam qua venisti.
10. Abiit ergo per aliam viam, et non est reversus per iter quo venerat in Bethel.
11. 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.
12. Et dixit eis pater eorum: Per quam viam abiit? Ostenderunt ei filii sui viam per quam abierat vir Dei, qui venerat de Juda.
13. Et ait filiis suis: Sternite mihi asinum. Qui cum stravissent, ascendit,
14. 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.
15. Dixitque ad eum: Veni mecum domum, ut comedas panem.
16. Qui ait: Non possum reverti, neque venire tecum: nec comedam panem, neque bibam aquam in loco isto,
17. quia locutus est Dominus ad me in sermone Domini, dicens: Non comedes panem, et non bibes aquam ibi, nec reverteris per viam qua ieris.
18. 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,
19. et reduxit secum: comedit ergo panem in domo ejus, et bibit aquam.
20. Cumque sederent ad mensam, factus est sermo Domini ad prophetam qui reduxerat eum.
21. 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,
22. 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.
23. Cumque comedisset et bibisset, stravit asinum suum prophetæ quem reduxerat.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. Dixitque ad filios suos: Sternite mihi asinum. Qui cum stravissent,
28. et ille abiisset, invenit cadaver ejus projectum in via, et asinum et leonem stantes juxta cadaver: non comedit leo de cadavere, nec læsit asinum.
29. Tulit ergo prophetes cadaver viri Dei, et posuit illud super asinum, et reversus intulit in civitatem prophetæ senis ut plangeret eum.
30. Et posuit cadaver ejus in sepulchro suo, et planxerunt eum: Heu, heu mi frater!
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. Et propter hanc causam peccavit domus Jeroboam, et eversa est, et deleta de superficie terræ.

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 18: “An angel spoke to me” … This old man of Bethel was indeed a prophet, but he sinned in thus deceiving the man of God; the more because he pretended a revelation for what he did.
- Verse 24: “Killed him” … Thus the Lord often punishes his servants here, that he may spare them hereafter. For the generality of divines are of opinion, that the sin of this prophet, considered with all its circumstances, was not mortal.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Sat, Feb 12, 2028 (computed): Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time — First Reading, 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34

Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).