2 Kings 1
1
Elijah and King Ahaziah of Israel
1After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2During the rebellion King Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upstairs room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers ⌞to Ekron⌟. He had told them, “Go ask Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury.”
3Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah from Tishbe, “Meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and ask them, ‘Do you seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, because ⌞you think⌟ there is no God in Israel? 4This is what the Lord says: You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.’ ” Then Elijah left.
5When the messengers returned, the king asked them, “Why have you come back so soon?”
6They told him that a man came to meet them and said to them, “Go back to the king who sent you. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do you send messengers to seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, because ⌞you think⌟ there is no God in Israel? You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.’ ”
7The king asked them, “What was the man who told you this like?”
8They replied, “He was hairy and had a leather belt around his waist.”
“That’s Elijah from Tishbe,” the king answered.
9The king sent an army officer with 50 men to Elijah. When the officer found Elijah sitting on top of a hill, he told Elijah, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ”
10Elijah answered the officer, “If I’m a man of God, fire will come from heaven and burn up you and your 50 men.” Then fire came from heaven and burned up the officer and his 50 men.
11The king sent another officer with 50 men to Elijah. The officer said, “Man of God, this is what the king says: Come here right away!”
12Elijah answered the officer, “If I’m a man of God, fire will come from heaven and burn up you and your 50 men.” Then God’s fire came from heaven and burned up the officer and his 50 men.
13The king sent a third officer with 50 men. The officer of the third group went up the hill and knelt in front of Elijah. The officer begged him, “Man of God, please treat my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours as something precious. 14Fire has come from heaven and burned up the first two officers and their 100 men. But treat my life as something precious.”
15The angel of the Lord told Elijah, “Go with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king. 16Elijah told the king, “This is what the Lord says: You sent messengers to seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron. Is this because ⌞you think⌟ there is no God in Israel whose word you can seek? You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.”
17So Ahaziah died as the Lord had predicted through Elijah. Joram succeeded him as king because Ahaziah had no son.#1:17 Greek; Masoretic Text “… succeeded him in Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram’s second year as king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.” 18Isn’t everything else about Ahaziah—the things he did—written in the official records of the kings of Israel?
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
2 Kings 1
1
1After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.
2Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3But 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 because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4Now therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah went.
5The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” 6And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die.’ ” 7He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8They answered him, “He wore a garment of haircloth, with a girdle of leather about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
9Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ” 10#Lk 9.54; Rev 11.5; 20.9. But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
11Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he went up#1.11 Gk Compare verses 9,13: Heb answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’ ” 12But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
13Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and entreated him, “O man of God, I pray you, let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. 14Lo, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king, 16and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron,—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.’ ”
17So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram, his brother,#1.17 Gk Syr: Heb lacks his brother became king in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. 18Now 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?
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