2 Kings 1
1
Elijah and King Ahaziah
1After the death of King Ahab of Israel, the country of Moab rebelled against Israel.
2King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover. 3But an angel of the LORD commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, “Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? 4Tell the king that the LORD says, ‘You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!’ ”
Elijah did as the LORD commanded, 5and the messengers returned to the king. “Why have you come back?” he asked.
6They answered, “We were met by a man who told us to come back and tell you that the LORD says to you, ‘Why are you sending messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel? You will not recover from your injuries; you will die!’ ”
7“What did the man look like?” the king asked.
8 #
Mt 3.4; Mk 1.6 “He was wearing a cloak made of animal skins, tied with#1.8 was wearing… with; or was a hairy man and wore. a leather belt,” they answered.
“It's Elijah!” the king exclaimed.
9Then he sent an officer with fifty men to get Elijah. The officer found him sitting on a hill and said to him, “Man of God, the king orders you to come down.”
10 #
Lk 9.54
“If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!” At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men.
11The king sent another officer with fifty men, who went up#1.11 One ancient translation went up; Hebrew answered. and said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king orders you to come down at once!”
12“If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!” At once the fire of God came down and killed the officer and his men.
13Once more the king sent an officer with fifty men. He went up the hill, fell on his knees in front of Elijah, and pleaded, “Man of God, be merciful to me and my men. Spare our lives! 14The two other officers and their men were killed by fire from heaven; but please be merciful to me!”
15The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don't be afraid.” So Elijah went with the officer to the king 16and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you sent messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron — as if there were no god in Israel to consult — you will not get well; you will die!’ ”
17Ahaziah died, as the LORD had said through Elijah. Ahaziah had no sons, so his brother#1.17 Some ancient translations his brother; Hebrew does not have these words. Joram succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
18Everything else that King Ahaziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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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