¹⁶ He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers^(A) to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave^(B) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem^(A) said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!^(B) By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”^(C)

² the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners^(A) and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

The Day of the Lord

²⁵ It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul,^(A) how much more the members of his household!

⁵ Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God^(A) to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus,^(A) and Ben-Hadad^(B) king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” ⁸ he said to Hazael,^(C) “Take a gift^(D) with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult^(E) the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

⁹ Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

¹⁰ Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’^(F) Nevertheless,^[a] the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.”