Ahaziah’s Sickness and Death

1 After the death of Ahab, Moab^(A) rebelled against Israel.^{(B) 2} Ahaziah^(C) had fallen through the latticed window of his upper room in Samaria^(D) and was injured. So he sent messengers instructing them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub,^[a](E) the god of Ekron,^(F) if I will recover from this injury.”^(G)

³ But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite,^(H) “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria^(I) and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not get up from your sickbed—you will certainly die.’” Then Elijah left.

⁵ The messengers returned to the king, who asked them, “Why have you come back?”

⁶ They replied, “A man came to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and declare to him: This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you’re sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not get up from your sickbed—you will certainly die.’”

⁷ The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke those words to you?”

⁸ They replied, “A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.”^(J)

He said, “It’s Elijah the Tishbite.”^(K)

⁹ So King Ahaziah sent a captain of 50 with his 50 men^(L) to Elijah. When the captain went up to him, he was sitting on top of the hill. He announced, “Man of God,^(M) the king declares, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰ Elijah responded to the captain of the 50, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.^(N)

¹¹ So the king sent another captain of 50 with his 50 men to Elijah. He took in the situation^[b] and announced, “Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately!’”

¹² Elijah responded, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 men.” So a divine fire^[c] came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50 men.

¹³ Then the king sent a third captain of 50 with his 50 men. The third captain of 50 went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him, “Man of God,^(O) please let my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your sight.^{(P) 14} Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of 50 with their fifties, but this time let my life be precious in your sight.”

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord^(Q) said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.”^(R) So he got up and went down with him to the king.

¹⁶ Then Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel for you to inquire of His will?—you will not get up from your sickbed; you will certainly die.’”

¹⁷ Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Since he had no son, Joram^[d](S) became king in his place. This happened in the second year of Judah’s King Jehoram^(T) son of Jehoshaphat.^{[e] 18} The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings.^[f](U)

Israel’s King Joram

3 Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria during the eighteenth year of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat and reigned 12 years.^{(A) 2} He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like his father and mother,^(B) for he removed the sacred pillar of Baal his father had made. ³ Nevertheless, Joram clung to the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.^(C) He did not turn away from them.

Moab’s Rebellion against Israel

⁴ King Mesha of Moab^(D) was a sheep breeder. He used to pay^(E) the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams,^{(F) 5} but when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.^{(G) 6} So King Joram marched out from Samaria at that time and mobilized all Israel. ⁷ Then he sent a message to King Jehoshaphat^(H) of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me.^(I) Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

Jehoshaphat said, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”^{(J) 8} Then he asked, “Which route should we take?”

Joram replied, “The route of the Wilderness of Edom.”

⁹ So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom^(K) set out. After they had traveled their indirect route for seven days, they had no water for the army or their animals.

¹⁰ Then the king of Israel said, “Oh no, the Lord has summoned three kings, only to hand them over to Moab.”

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord here? Let’s inquire of Yahweh through him.”^(L)

One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat,^(M) who used to pour water on Elijah’s hands, is here.”

¹² Jehoshaphat affirmed, “The Lord’s words are with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went to him.^(N)

¹³ However, Elisha said to King Joram of Israel, “We have nothing in common. Go to the prophets of your father and your mother!”^(O)

But the king of Israel replied, “No, because it is the Lord who has summoned these three kings to hand them over to Moab.”

¹⁴ Elisha responded, “As the Lord of Hosts lives,^(P) I stand before Him. If I did not have respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah,^(Q) I would not look at you; I wouldn’t take notice of you. ¹⁵ Now, bring me a musician.”^(R)

While the musician played,^(S) the Lord’s hand^(T) came on Elisha. ¹⁶ Then he said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Dig ditch after ditch in this wadi.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says, ‘You will not see wind or rain, but the wadi will be filled with water,^(U) and you will drink—you and your cattle and your animals.’ ¹⁸ This is easy in the Lord’s sight.^(V) He will also hand Moab over to you.^{(W) 19} Then you must attack every fortified city and every choice city. You must cut down every good tree and stop up every spring of water. You must ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

²⁰ About the time for the grain offering^(X) the next morning, water suddenly came from the direction of Edom and filled the land.

²¹ All Moab had heard that the kings^(Y) had come up to fight against them. So all who could bear arms, from the youngest to the oldest, were summoned and took their stand at the border. ²² When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and the Moabites saw that the water across from them was red like blood.^{(Z) 23} “This is blood!” they exclaimed. “The kings^(AA) have clashed swords and killed each other. So, to the spoil, Moab!”

²⁴ However, when the Moabites came to Israel’s camp, the Israelites attacked them, and they fled from them. So Israel went into the land and struck down the Moabites. ²⁵ They destroyed the cities, and each of them threw stones to cover every good piece of land. They stopped up every spring of water and cut down every good tree. In the end, only the buildings of Kir-hareseth^(AB) were left. Then men with slings surrounded the city and attacked it.

²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took 700 swordsmen with him to try to break through to the king of Edom,^(AC) but they could not do it. ²⁷ So he took his firstborn son,^(AD) who was to become king in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. Great wrath was on the Israelites, and they withdrew from him and returned to their land.

Judah’s King Jehoshaphat

⁴¹ Jehoshaphat^(A) son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Israel’s King Ahab. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king; he reigned 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ He walked in all the ways of his father Asa;^(B) he did not turn away from them but did what was right in the Lord’s sight. However, the high places were not taken away;^[a] the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.^{(C) 44} Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.^(D)

⁴⁵ The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, along with the might he exercised and how he waged war, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.^{(E) 46} He removed from the land the rest of the male cult prostitutes who were left from the days of his father Asa.^{(F) 47} There was no king in Edom;^(G) a deputy served as king. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish^(H) to go to Ophir^(I) for gold, but they did not go because the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.^{(J) 49} At that time, Ahaziah^(K) son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat was not willing.

Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

³¹ Jehoshaphat became king over Judah.^(A) He was 35 years old when he became king and reigned 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² He walked in the way of Asa his father; he did not turn away from it but did what was right in the Lord’s sight. ³³ However, the high places were not taken away;^(B) the people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.^(C)

³⁴ The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign from beginning to end are written in the Events of Jehu^(D) son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of Israel’s Kings.^(E)

Jehoshaphat’s Fleet of Ships

³⁵ After this,^(F) Judah’s King Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Israel’s King Ahaziah, who was guilty of wrongdoing. ³⁶ Jehoshaphat formed an alliance with him to make ships to go to Tarshish,^(G) and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you formed an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord has broken up what you have made.” So the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.