< 2 Kings 1 >

1 And Moab transgresses against Israel after the death of Ahab,
Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 and Ahaziah falls through the lattice in his upper chamber that [is] in Samaria, and is sick, and sends messengers, and says to them, “Go, inquire of Ba‘al-Zebub god of Ekron if I recover from this sickness.”
Then Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and was injured. So he sent for messengers and said to them, “Go, ask Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”
3 And a messenger of YHWH has spoken to Elijah the Tishbite, “Rise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and speak to them, Is it because there is not a God in Israel—you are going to inquire of Ba‘al-Zebub god of Ekron?
But the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to consult with Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?
4 And therefore, thus said YHWH: The bed to where you have gone up, you do not come down from it, for you certainly die”; and Elijah goes on.
Therefore Yahweh says, “You will not come down from the bed to where you have gone up; instead, you will certainly die.”'” Then Elijah left.
5 And the messengers return to him, and he says to them, “What [is] this—you have turned back!”
When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he said to them, “Why have you returned?”
6 And they say to him, “A man has come up to meet us and says to us, Go, return to the king who sent you, and you have said to him, Thus said YHWH: Is it because there is not a God in Israel—you are sending to inquire of Ba‘al-Zebub god of Ekron? Therefore, the bed to where you have gone up, you do not come down from it, for you certainly die.”
They said to him, “A man came to meet us who said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, “Yahweh says this: 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you sent men to consult with Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed to which you have gone up; instead, you will certainly die.'”'”
7 And he says to them, “What [is] the fashion of the man who has come up to meet you, and speaks these words to you?”
Ahaziah said to his messengers, “What sort of man was he, the one who came up to meet you and said these words to you?”
8 And they say to him, “A hairy man, and a girdle of skin girt around his loins”; and he says, “He [is] Elijah the Tishbite.”
They answered him, “He wore a garment made of hair and had a leather belt wrapped around his waist.” So the king replied, “That is Elijah the Tishbite.”
9 And he sends to him a head of fifty and his fifty, and he goes up to him (and behold, he is sitting on the top of the hill), and he speaks to him, “O man of God, the king has spoken, Come down.”
Then the king sent a captain with fifty soldiers to Elijah. The captain went up to Elijah where he was sitting on the top of a hill. The captain spoke to him, “You, man of God, the king has said, 'Come down.'”
10 And Elijah answers and speaks to the head of the fifty, “And if I [am] a man of God, fire comes down from the heavens and consumes you and your fifty”; and fire comes down from the heavens and consumes him and his fifty.
Elijah answered and said to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
11 And he turns and sends to him another head of fifty and his fifty, and he answers and speaks to him, “O man of God, thus said the king: Hurry, come down.”
Again King Ahaziah sent to Elijah another captain with fifty soldiers. This captain also said to Elijah, “You, man of God, the king says, 'Come down quickly.'”
12 And Elijah answers and speaks to them, “If I [am] a man of God, fire comes down from the heavens and consumes you and your fifty”; and fire of God comes down from the heavens and consumes him and his fifty.
Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Again the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
13 And he turns and sends a third head of fifty and his fifty, and the third head of fifty goes up, and comes in, and bows on his knees before Elijah, and makes supplication to him, and speaks to him, “O man of God, please let my soul and the soul of your servants—these fifty—be precious in your eyes.
Yet again the king sent a third group of fifty warriors. This captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and implored him and said to him, “You, man of God, I ask you, let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.
14 Behold, fire has come down from the heavens and consumes the two heads of the former fifties and their fifties; and now, let my soul be precious in your eyes.”
Indeed, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their men, but now let my life be precious in your sight.”
15 And a messenger of YHWH speaks to Elijah, “Go down with him, do not be afraid of him”; and he rises and goes down with him to the king,
The angel of Yahweh said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah arose and went down with him to the king.
16 and speaks to him, “Thus said YHWH: Because that you have sent messengers to inquire of Ba‘al-Zebub god of Ekron—is it because there is not a God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore, the bed to where you have gone up—you do not come down from it, for you certainly die.”
Later Elijah said to Ahaziah, “This is what Yahweh says, 'You have sent messengers to consult with Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel from whom you can ask for information? So now, you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up; you will certainly die.'”
17 And he dies, according to the word of YHWH that Elijah spoke, and Jehoram reigns in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, for he had no son.
So King Ahaziah died according to the word of Yahweh that Elijah had spoken. Joram began to reign in his place, in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.
18 And the rest of the matters of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
As for the other matters concerning Ahaziah, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

< 2 Kings 1 >