Elijah Rebukes King Ahaziah

1 Moab rebelled against Israel^[a] after Ahab died. ² Meanwhile, Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice in his upper room in Samaria and lay injured. He sent messengers to Ekron with these orders: “Go and consult with Ekron’s god Baal-zebub to find out^[b] if I’m going to recover from this injury.”^[c]

³ But the angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah the foreigner,^[d] “Get up and go meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Ask them ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re going to consult with Ekron’s god Baal-zebub? ⁴ Now therefore this is what the Lord says: “You won’t be getting up from that bed of yours on which you’re lying. You will most certainly die!”’” So Elijah got up and^[e] went.

⁵ The messengers returned to the king and he asked them, “What’s this? You’ve come back?”

⁶ They replied, “We met a man who told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and ask him, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re going to consult with Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you won’t be getting up from that bed on which you’re lying. You will most certainly die!”’”

⁷ He told them, “Describe the man who met you and told you these things.”

⁸ They answered, “The man was a hairy fellow. He wore a leather sash around his waist.”

The king^[f] responded, “It’s Elijah, that foreigner!”^[g]

Fire from Heaven Destroys the King’s Henchmen

⁹ So the king sent out 50 men, along with their leader.^[h] The leader^[i] approached Elijah, who was sitting at the top of a hill. He ordered Elijah,^[j] “Hey, man of God! The king orders you to come down!”

¹⁰ Elijah responded to the leader who was in charge of the 50 soldiers, “So I’m a man of God, am I? If so, may fire^[k] fall from heaven and devour you and your 50 soldiers…”^[l] Just then, fire fell from heaven and devoured that leader and his 50 soldiers.^[m]

¹¹ Later the king tried again—he sent another company of 50 soldiers, along with their leader, who ordered Elijah, “Hey, man of God! This is what the king orders: ‘Come down!’”

¹² Elijah responded to the leader and to his entire company,^[n] “So I’m a man of God, am I? If so, may fire^[o] fall from heaven and devour you and your 50 soldiers…”^[p] Just then, fire fell from heaven and devoured him and his 50 soldiers.^[q]

¹³ Then the king tried yet again! The king sent a third company of 50 soldiers along with their leader. The third leader went up the hill,^[r] approached Elijah,^[s] fell on his knees in front of him, and begged him,^[t] “Hey, man of God, please treat^[u] my life and the lives of these servants of yours as precious! ¹⁴ Look how fire fell from heaven and devoured the two other companies of 50 soldiers, along with their captains, but now please treat me as if my life were precious!”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord told Elijah, “Go down the hill with that man. Don’t be afraid of him!” So Elijah^[v] got up and went down with him to meet the king.

¹⁶ Then Elijah spoke to the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you sent messengers to consult with Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel with whom to consult regarding his word?—therefore you’re not getting up from the bed on which you’re lying. You certainly will die!’” ¹⁷ And die he did, just as the Lord had said and just as Elijah had spoken!

After this, Jehoram ascended to the throne during the second year of the reign of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram from Judah. He took the place of Ahaziah, who had no son. ¹⁸ The rest of Ahaziah’s activities are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel,^[w] are they not?