2 Kings 1
1
A Message for Ahaziah
1After King Ahab died, Moab broke away from Israel’s rule.
2One day Ahaziah was on the roof of his house in Samaria. He fell down through the wooden bars on top of his house and was badly hurt. He called messengers and told them, “Go to the priests of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, and ask them if I will get well from my injuries.”
3But the Lord’s angel said to Elijah the Tishbite, “King Ahaziah has sent some messengers from Samaria. Go meet those men and ask them, ‘There is a God in Israel, so why are you men going to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? 4Since you did this, the Lord says, You will not get up from your bed. You will die!’” Then Elijah left.
5When messengers came back to Ahaziah, he asked them, “Why did you come back so soon?”
6The messengers said to Ahaziah, “A man came up to meet us and told us to go back to the king who sent us and tell him what the Lord says: ‘There is a God in Israel, so why did you send messengers to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Since you did this, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!’”
7Ahaziah said to the messengers, “What did the man look like who met you and told you this?”
8They answered Ahaziah, “This man was wearing a hairy coat#1:8 This man … coat Or “This man was a hairy man.” with a leather belt around his waist.”
Then Ahaziah said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”
Ahaziah Calls for Elijah
9Ahaziah sent a captain and 50 men to Elijah. The captain went to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”
10Elijah answered the captain of 50, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!”
So fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men.
11Ahaziah sent another captain with 50 men to Elijah. He said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down quickly!’”
12Elijah told the captain and his 50 men, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your 50 men!”
Then God’s fire came down from heaven and destroyed the captain and his 50 men.
13Ahaziah sent a third captain with 50 men. The third captain came to Elijah. He fell down on his knees and begged Elijah, saying to him, “Man of God, I ask you, please let my life and the lives of your 50 servants be valuable to you. 14Fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains and their 50 men. But now, have mercy and let us live!”
15The Lord’s angel said to Elijah, “Go with the captain. Don’t be afraid of him.”
So Elijah went with the captain to see King Ahaziah.
16Elijah told Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘There is a God in Israel, so why did you send messengers to ask questions of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Since you did this, you will not get up from your bed. You will die!’”
Joram Takes Ahaziah’s Place
17Ahaziah died, just as the Lord said through Elijah. Ahaziah did not have a son, so Joram became the new king after Ahaziah. He began to rule during the second year that Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah.
18The other things that Ahaziah did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
2 Kings 1
1
Ahaziah’s death
1After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.
2Ahaziah fell out the window of his second-story room in Samaria and was hurt. He sent messengers, telling them, “Go to Ekron’s god Baal-zebub, and ask if I will recover from this injury.”
3But the LORD’s messenger said to Elijah from Tishbe, “Go, intercept the messengers of Samaria’s king, and ask them, ‘Is it because there’s no God in Israel that you are going to question Ekron’s god Baal-zebub? 4This is what the LORD says: You will never get out of the bed you are lying in; you will die for sure!’” So Elijah set off.
5The messengers returned to Ahaziah. He said to them, “Why have you come back?”
6They said to him, “A man met us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you. Say to him, This is what the LORD says: Is it because there’s no God in Israel that you’ve come to question Ekron’s god Baal-zebub? Because of this, you will never get out of the bed you are lying in; you will die for sure!’”
7Ahaziah said to them, “Describe the man who met you and said these things.”
8They said to him, “He wore clothes made of hair#1.8 Or He was a hairy man. with a leather belt around his waist.”
Ahaziah said, “That was Elijah from Tishbe.”
9So Ahaziah sent out a commander with fifty soldiers. The commander met up with Elijah while he was sitting on a hilltop. The commander said, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”
10Elijah replied to the commander of the fifty soldiers, “If I really am a man of God, may fire come down from the sky and burn up you and your fifty soldiers.” Then fire came down from the sky and burned up the commander and his fifty soldiers.
11Ahaziah then sent another commander with fifty soldiers. The commander said to Elijah, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Hurry and come down!’”
12Elijah said to them, “If I really am a man of God, may fire come down from the sky and burn up you and your fifty soldiers.” Then God’s fire came down from the sky and burned up the commander and his fifty soldiers.
13For a third time Ahaziah sent a commander with fifty soldiers. So the third commander arrived. He kneeled before Elijah and begged him, “Man of God! Please have some regard for my life and the lives of these fifty soldiers who are your servants. 14Look, fire came from the sky and burned up the two earlier commanders and their troops of fifty soldiers. Please have regard for my life.”
15Then the LORD’s messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah set out to go with him to the king.
16Elijah said to the king: “This is what the LORD says: Why did you send messengers to question Ekron’s god Baal-zebub? Is there no God in Israel whose word you could seek? Because of this, you won’t ever get out of the bed you are lying in; you’ll die for sure!” 17So Ahaziah died in agreement with the LORD’s word that Elijah had spoken.
Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram#1.17 Heb Jehoram; the king’s name is variously spelled in either long Jehoram or short Joram form. became king after him in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram, who was Jehoshaphat’s son. 18The rest of Ahaziah’s deeds, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings?
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