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2 Kings 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible

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)

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 1:2 = Lord of the Flies
  2. 2 Kings 1:11 Lit He answered
  3. 2 Kings 1:12 Lit a fire of God
  4. 2 Kings 1:17 Lit Jehoram; 2Kg 8:16
  5. 2 Kings 1:17 LXX omits in the second year . . . Jehoshaphat
  6. 2 Kings 1:18 LXX adds 4 more vv. here similar to 2Kg 3:1-3.
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2 Kings 1
International Standard Version

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?

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 1:1 Cf. 2Sam 8:2
  2. 2 Kings 1:2 The Heb. lacks and find out
  3. 2 Kings 1:2 Lit. sickness
  4. 2 Kings 1:3 Lit. Tishbite; or sojourner
  5. 2 Kings 1:4 The Heb. lacks got up and
  6. 2 Kings 1:8 Lit. He
  7. 2 Kings 1:8 Lit. Elijah the Tishbite; or Elijah, the sojourner
  8. 2 Kings 1:9 Lit. a captain of fifty; and so through v. 14; modern equivalent to a Second Lieutenant commanding a platoon of four twelve-member squads
  9. 2 Kings 1:9 Lit. He
  10. 2 Kings 1:9 Lit. him
  11. 2 Kings 1:10 MT word fire sounds like MT word man
  12. 2 Kings 1:10 The Heb. lacks soldiers
  13. 2 Kings 1:10 The Heb. lacks soldiers
  14. 2 Kings 1:12 Lit. to them
  15. 2 Kings 1:12 MT word fire sounds like MT word man
  16. 2 Kings 1:12 The Heb. lacks soldiers
  17. 2 Kings 1:12 The Heb. lacks soldiers
  18. 2 Kings 1:13 The Heb. lacks the hill
  19. 2 Kings 1:13 The Heb. lacks Elijah
  20. 2 Kings 1:13 Lit. Elijah
  21. 2 Kings 1:13 Lit. see
  22. 2 Kings 1:15 Lit. he
  23. 2 Kings 1:18 An ancient chronicle of Israel, apparently now lost; and so throughout the book
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1 Kings 22
2 Kings 2
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