< 2 Kings 1 >
1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.
And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice-work of his upper room in Samaria and had hurt himself badly. So he sent out messengers, telling them: “Go and ask Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will get better from this injury.”
And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and was sick; and he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this disease.
3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there's no God in Israel that you're going to ask advice from Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’
And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
4 So this is the Lord's answer: ‘You will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.’” And Elijah left.
Now therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die. And Elijah departed.
5 The messengers returned to the king, and he asked them, “Why have you come back?”
And the messengers returned to him; and he said to them, Why have ye returned?
6 “A man came and met us,” they replied. “He told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and tell him, This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to ask advice from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? As a result you will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.’”
And they said unto him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king that sent you and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
7 “What was he like, this man who met you and told you all this?” the king asked.
And he said to them, What manner of man was he that came up to meet you, and told you these words?
8 “He was a hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist,” they replied. “It's Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
And they said to him, He was a man in a hairy [garment], and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
9 Then the king sent an army captain with fifty men to Elijah. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and told him, “Man of God, the king orders you, ‘Come down!’”
And he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he sat on the top of the mount. And he spoke to him: Man of God, the king says, Come down!
10 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, then let fire fall from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men.” Fire fell from heaven and burned up the captain and his men.
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, And if I be a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from the heavens, and consumed him and his fifty.
11 So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah. The captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king orders you, Come down immediately!”
And again he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he spoke and said to him, Man of God, thus says the king: Come down quickly!
12 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, then let fire fall from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men.” Fire fell from heaven and burned up the captain and his men.
And Elijah answered and said to them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from the heavens and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from the heavens, and consumed him and his fifty.
13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up, kneeled before Elijah, and pleaded with him, “Man of God, please value my life and the lives of these fifty men.
And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him and said to him, Man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
14 Yes, fire has fallen from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifty, along with all their men. But now please value my life!”
Behold, there came down fire from the heavens, and consumed the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties; but now, let my life be precious in thy sight.
15 Then the angel of the Lord told Elijah, “Go down with him. You don't have to be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.
And the angel of Jehovah said to Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him to the king.
16 Elijah told the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Is it because there's no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to ask advice of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? As a result you will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.”
And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt certainly die.
17 Ahaziah died just as the Lord had said through Elijah. Because he had no son, Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
And he died according to the word of Jehovah that Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; for he had no son.
18 The rest of what happened in Ahaziah's reign and what he did are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
And the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?