Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah

1 Now ^(A)Moab broke with Israel after the death of Ahab. ² And Ahaziah fell through the window lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, ^(B)inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^(C)whether I will recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to ^(D)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 ^(E)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Now therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘^[a](F)You will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ When the messengers returned to ^[b]Ahaziah, he said to them, “^[c]Why have you returned?” 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, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers ^(G)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ^[d]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”’” ⁷ Then he said to them, “What ^[e]did the man look like, who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” ⁸ And they said to him, “^(H)He was a hairy man with a leather ^[f]belt worn around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king ^(I)sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “You man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ But Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^(J)may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” ^(K)Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹¹ So the king again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men. And he said to him, “You man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² But Elijah replied to them, “If I am a man of God, may 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 men.

¹³ So the king ^(L)again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty men. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “You man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my ^[g]life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ And ^(M)the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; ^(N)do not be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then he said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you have sent messengers ^(O)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore ^[h]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died in accordance with the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place ^(P)in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Now as for 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?

Jehoram Meets Moabite Rebellion

3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria ^(A)in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and his mother; for ^(B)he removed the memorial stone of Baal ^(C)which his father had made. ³ Nevertheless, ^(D)he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into ^(E)which he misled Israel; he did not abandon them.

⁴ Now Mesha the king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he ^(F)used to make tribute payments to the king of Israel of a hundred thousand lambs, and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. ⁵ However, ^(G)when King Ahab died, the king of Moab broke with the ^[a]king of Israel. ⁶ So King Jehoram left Samaria for battle ^[b]at that time and mustered all Israel. ⁷ Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has broken away from me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up. ^[c](H)Consider me yours, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” ⁸ Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he ^[d]answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So ^(I)the king of Israel went with ^(J)the king of Judah and ^(K)the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey. But there was no water for the army or for the cattle that ^[e]followed them. ¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “It is hopeless! For the Lord has called these three kings to hand them over to Moab!” ¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “^(L)Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “^(M)Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, ^(N)who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” ¹² And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “^[f]What business do you have with me? ^(O)Go to your father’s prophets and your mother’s prophets.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to hand them over to Moab.” ¹⁴ Elisha said, “^(P)As surely as the Lord of armies lives, before whom I stand, if I did not respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. ¹⁵ But now ^(Q)bring me a ^[g]musician.” And it came about, when the ^[h]musician played, that ^(R)the hand of the Lord came upon him. ¹⁶ And he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make this valley ^[i]full of trenches.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says this: ‘You will not see wind, nor will you see rain; yet that valley ^(S)shall be filled with water, so that you will drink, you, your livestock, and your other animals. ¹⁸ And this is an ^(T)insignificant thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. ^19 (U)Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and ^[j]cut down every good tree and stop up all the springs of water, and spoil every good plot of land with stones.’” ²⁰ And it happened in the morning ^(V)about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came from the direction of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

²¹ Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. And all who were able to ^[k]put on armor and older were summoned and they took their positions on the border. ²² Then they got up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. ²³ So they said, “This is blood; the kings must have fought each other, and they have killed one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoils!” ²⁴ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled from them; and the Israelites invaded ^[l]the land, ^[m]killing the Moabites. ^25 (W)So they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every plot of good land and filled it. So they stopped up every spring of water and ^[n]cut down every good tree, until in ^(X)Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the rock slingers surrounded it and struck it. ²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. ²⁷ Then the king of Moab took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and ^(Y)offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great anger came upon Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.

The New Rulers

^41 (A)Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ^43 (B)He walked ^[a]entirely in the way of his father Asa; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ^(C)However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ^44 (D)Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might which he showed and how he made war, are they not written ^(E)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ And the remnant of ^(F)the cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa, he eliminated from the land.

⁴⁷ Now ^(G)there was no king in Edom; a governor served as king. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat built ^(H)ships of Tarshish to go to ^(I)Ophir for gold, but ^(J)they did not go, because the ships were destroyed at ^(K)Ezion-geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing.

^31 (A)Now Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not deviate from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. ^33 (B)The high places, however, were not removed; ^(C)the people had not yet directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first ^[a]to last, behold, they are written in the annals of ^(D)Jehu the son of Hanani, which is ^[b]recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Alliance Displeases God

^35 (E)After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly ^[c]in so doing. ³⁶ So he allied himself with him to make ships to go ^(F)to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish.

^50 (A)And Jehoshaphat ^[a]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place.

Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat in Judah

21 ^(A)Then Jehoshaphat ^[a]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, ^[b]Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king ^(B)of Israel. ³ Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, ^(C)with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴ Now when Jehoram had ^[c]taken over the kingdom of his father and gathered courage, he ^(D)killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the leaders of Israel as well.

Another Jehoram Reigns in Judah

¹⁶ Now in the fifth year of ^(A)Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. ¹⁷ He was ^(B)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(C)Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹ However, the Lord did not want to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, ^(D)since He had ^[a]promised him to give him a ^[b]lamp through his sons always.

²⁰ In his days ^(E)Edom broke away from the ^[c]rule of Judah, and appointed a king over themselves. ²¹ Then Joram crossed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he got up at night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots; ^(F)but ^[d]his army fled to their tents. ^22 (G)So Edom has broken away from ^[e]Judah to this day. Then ^(H)Libnah broke away at the same time.

^5 (A)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (B)He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, ^(C)for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, ^(D)and because He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.