2 Kings 1
1 After King Ahab died, [the country of] Moab rebelled against Israel.
Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 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).”
And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that [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 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]?
But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, [Is it] not because [there is] not a God in Israel, [that] ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?
4 Yahweh says [that you should tell King Ahaziah] that he will not recover from his being injured; he will surely die.’”
Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
5 [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]?”
And when the messengers turned back to him, he said to them, Why have ye now returned?
6 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.”’”
And they said to him, There came up a man to meet us, and said to us, Go, turn again to the king that sent you, and say to him, Thus saith the LORD, [Is it] not 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 that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
7 The king said to them, “The man who came to meet you and told that to you, what did he look like?”
And he said to them, What manner of man [was he] who came up to meet you, and told you these words?
8 They replied, “He was a hairy man and he had a [wide] leather belt around his waist.” The king exclaimed, “That was Elijah!”
And they answered him, [He was] a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It [is] Elijah the Tishbite.
9 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!”
Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and behold, he sat on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
10 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].
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I [am] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
11 [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!”
Again also he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
12 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.
And Elijah answered and said to them, If I [am] a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
13 [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)!
And he sent again a captain of the 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, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
14 [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!”
Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
15 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.
And the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him to the king.
16 [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!’”
And he said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, [is it] not because [there is] no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 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].
So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.
18 [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’.
Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
