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2 Kings 1
GOD’S WORD Translation
2 Kings 1
GOD’S WORD Translation
Elijah and King Ahaziah of Israel
1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 During 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.”
3 Then 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? 4 This 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.
5 When the messengers returned, the king asked them, “Why have you come back so soon?”
6 They 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.’ ”
7 The king asked them, “What was the man who told you this like?”
8 They replied, “He was hairy and had a leather belt around his waist.”
“That’s Elijah from Tishbe,” the king answered.
9 The 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.’ ”
10 Elijah 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.
11 The 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!”
12 Elijah 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.
13 The 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. 14 Fire has come from heaven and burned up the first two officers and their 100 men. But treat my life as something precious.”
15 The 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. 16 Elijah 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.”
17 So Ahaziah died as the Lord had predicted through Elijah. Joram succeeded him as king because Ahaziah had no son.[a] 18 Isn’t everything else about Ahaziah—the things he did—written in the official records of the kings of Israel?
Footnotes
- 1:17 Greek; Masoretic Text “… succeeded him in Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram’s second year as king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.”
2 Kings 1
New International Version
2 Kings 1
New International Version
The Lord’s Judgment on Ahaziah
1 After Ahab’s death, Moab(A) rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers,(B) saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub,(C) the god of Ekron,(D) to see if I will recover(E) from this injury.”
3 But the angel(F) of the Lord said to Elijah(G) the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel(H) that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not leave(I) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’” So Elijah went.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?”
6 “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave(J) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’”
7 The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”
8 They replied, “He had a garment of hair[a](K) and had a leather belt around his waist.”
The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”
9 Then he sent(L) to Elijah a captain(M) with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”
10 Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire(N) fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.
11 At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”
12 “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life(O) and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! 14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”
15 The angel(P) of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid(Q) of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.
16 He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers(R) to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave(S) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” 17 So he died,(T) according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.
Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram[b](U) succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 18 As for all the other events of Ahaziah’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 1:8 Or He was a hairy man
- 2 Kings 1:17 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant of Joram
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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