2 Kings 1

God Judges Ahaziah

1 Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.3 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 because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?4 Now therefore, thus says the Lord: You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die. So Elijah departed.5 And when the messengers returned to him, he said to them, Why have you come back?6 So they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return 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 up, but you shall surely die.7 Then he said to them, What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words?8 So they answered him, A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So he went up to him; and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: Man of God, the king has said, Come down!10 So 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 you and your fifty men. And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.11 Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he answered and said to him: Man of God, thus has the king said, Come down quickly!12 So 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. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.13 Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.14 Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight.15 And 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.16 Then he 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 up, but you shall surely die.17 So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.18 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?

2 Kings 1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.s

2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samarias and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders,t “Go, askt Baal Zebub,s the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”
3 But the Lord’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron.t

4 Therefore this is what the Lord says, “You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!”’” So Elijah went on his way.
5 When the messengers returned to the king,ts he asked them, “Why have you returned?”6 They replied,t “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron.t Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’”7 The kingt asked them, “Describe the appearancet of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.”

8 They replied,t “He was a hairy mant and had a leather beltt tied around his waist.” The kingt said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
9 The kingt sent a captain and his fifty soldierst to retrieve Elijah.t The captaint went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill.s He told him, “Prophet,t the king says, ‘Come down!’”

10 Elijah replied to the captain,t “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came downt from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
11 The kingt sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him,s “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”s

12 Elijah replied to them,s “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from Godt came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
13 The kingt sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fellt on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours.14 Indeed,t fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men.t So now, please have respect for my life.”

15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went downs with him to the king.

16 Elijaht said to the king,t “This is what the Lord says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle!t Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’”s
17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah.t In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son.t

18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.t