2 Kings 1
1 Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
After King Ahab died, [the country of] Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 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.”
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 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?
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 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.
Yahweh says [that you should tell King Ahaziah] that he will not recover from his being injured; he will surely die.’”
5 When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he said to them, “Why have you 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 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.'”'”
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 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?”
The king said to them, “The man who came to meet you and told that to you, what did he look like?”
8 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.”
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 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.'”
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 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.
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 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.'”
[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 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.
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 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.
[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 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.”
[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 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.
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 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.'”
[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 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.
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 As for the other matters concerning Ahaziah, are they not written in the book of the events 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’.
