³ But the angel of the Lord said to ^(A)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 ^(B)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

⁶ 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 ^(A)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ^[a]you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”’”

¹⁶ Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers ^(A)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore ^[a]you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”

²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. ^(A)If they have called the head of the house ^[a](B)Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

²² The scribes who came down ^(A)from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by ^[a](B)Beelzebul,” and “^(C)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”