³ But the angel of ^[a]Yahweh 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?’ ⁴ Now therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘^[b](C)You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ So the messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “^[c]Why have you returned?”