2 Kings 1
1 Then Moab revolted against Israel, after the death of Ahab.
After King Ahab died, [the country of] Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber, which was in Samaria, and became sick, —so he sent messengers, and said unto them—Go enquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.
One day, Ahaziah, [the new king of Israel, ] fell through the wooden slats/boards around the edge of the flat roof [of his palace] in Samaria. He was badly injured, so he summoned some messengers and told them, “Go to Ekron [city in Philistia], and ask their god Baalzebub whether I will (recover/become well).”
3 But, the messenger of Yahweh, spake unto Elijah the Tishbite, Rise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, —and say unto them—Is it, because there is no God in Israel, that, ye, are going to enquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron?
But an angel from Yahweh said to Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe [town], “The king of Samaria [is sending] some messengers [to Ekron]. Go and meet them and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, the god of those people, [whether you will recover]?
4 Wherefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, From the bed whereunto thou hast gone up, shalt thou not come down, for thou shalt, surely die. And Elijah departed.
Yahweh says [that you should tell King Ahaziah] that he will not recover from his being injured; he will surely die.’”
5 And, when the messengers returned unto him, he said unto them—How is it that ye have returned?
[So Elijah went to meet] the messengers [and told that to them, and they] returned to the king [instead of going to Ekron]. The king asked them, “Why did you return [so soon]?”
6 And they said unto him—A man, came up to meet us, and said unto us—Go, return unto the king who sent you, and ye shall say unto him, Thus, saith Yahweh—Is it, because there is no God in Israel, that, thou, art sending to enquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron? Therefore, from the bed whereunto thou hast gone up, shalt thou not come down, for thou shalt, surely die.
They replied, “A man came to meet us, and said to us, ‘Return to the king who sent you and tell him that Yahweh says, “(Is it because there no God in Israel that you are sending [messengers] to Ekron to consult Baalzebub, their god?/You seem to think there is no God in Israel, with the result that you are sending [messengers] to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, their god, [whether you will recover].) [RHQ] [Go tell the king that] he will not recover from being injured; instead, he will surely die.”’”
7 And he said unto them, What was the manner of the man who came up to meet you, —and spake unto you these words?
The king said to them, “The man who came to meet you and told that to you, what did he look like?”
8 And they said unto him—A hairy man, with a leathern girdle girt about his loins. And he said—Elijah the Tishbite, it was.
They replied, “He was a hairy man and he had a [wide] leather belt around his waist.” The king exclaimed, “That was Elijah!”
9 Then sent he unto him a captain of fifty, with his fifty, and he went up unto him, and lo! he abode on the top of the mountain, and he said unto him, O man of God! the king, hath said, Come down!
Then the king sent an officer with 50 soldiers to seize Elijah. They found Elijah sitting on the top of a hill. The officer called out to him, “Prophet, the king commands that you come down here!”
10 And Elijah responded and said unto the captain of fifty, If, then, a man of God, I am, let fire come down out of the heavens, and devour thee and thy fifty. So there came down fire out of the heavens, and devoured him and his fifty.
But Elijah replied, “I am a prophet; so, I command that fire come down from the sky and burn up you and your 50 soldiers!” Immediately, fire came down from the sky and completely burned up the officer and his 50 [soldiers].
11 Then he again sent unto him another captain of fifty, with his fifty. And he also spake and said unto him, O man of God! thus, saith the king, Haste thee, come down!
[When the king found out about that, ] he sent another officer with 50 more soldiers. They went [to where Elijah was], and the officer called out to him, “Prophet, the king commands that you come down immediately!”
12 And Elijah responded and said unto them—If, a man of God, I am, let fire come down out of the heavens, and devour thee and thy fifty. And there came down a fire of God, out of the heavens, and devoured him and his fifty.
But Elijah replied, “I am a prophet; [to prove that, ] I command that fire come down from the sky and kill you and your soldiers!” Then a fire from God came down from the sky and killed the officer and his soldiers.
13 Then he again sent a third captain of fifty, with his fifty, —and the third captain of fifty ascended and came near, and bowed down upon his knees before Elijah, and made supplication unto him, and said unto him, O man of God! let my life, I pray thee, and the lives of these thy fifty servants, be precious in thine eyes.
[When the king heard about that] he sent another officer with 50 more soldiers. [They went to where Elijah was], and the officer prostrated himself in front of Elijah, and said to him, “Prophet, I plead with you, be kind to me and my 50 soldiers, and (do not kill us/allow us to remain alive)!
14 Lo! there hath come down fire out of the heavens, and devoured the captains of the former fifties, with their fifties, —now, therefore, let my life be precious in thine eyes.
[We know that] two times fire came down from the sky and killed officers and the 50 soldiers who were with them. So now, please be kind to me!”
15 And the messenger of Yahweh said unto Elijah, Go down with him, do not fear because of him, So he arose, and went down with him, unto the king;
Then the angel from Yahweh said to Elijah, “Go down [and go] with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah went with them to the king.
16 and said unto him—Thus, saith Yahweh—For that thou didst send messengers to enquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron, was it because there was no God in Israel, for whose word thou couldst enquire? Therefore, from the bed whereunto thou hast gone up, shalt thou not come down, for thou shalt, surely die.
[When Elijah arrived, ] he said to the king, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You sent messengers to go to Ekron to ask Baalzebub, their god, [whether you would recover]. You acted as though [RHQ] there is no God in Israel to consult. So you will not recover from being injured; instead, you are going to die!’”
17 And he died, according to the word of Yahweh which, Elijah, had spoken, and Jehoram reigned in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, —because he had no son.
So Ahaziah died, which is what Yahweh told Elijah would happen. Ahaziah’s [younger] brother Joram became the new king, when Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, had been ruling Judah for almost two years. Ahaziah’s brother became the king because Ahaziah had no son [to become the king].
18 Now, the rest of the story of Ahaziah, the things that he did, are, they, not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
[If you want to know about] all the other things that Ahaziah did, they are [RHQ] written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.
