¹¹ Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up^[a] and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order: Come down quickly!” ¹² But Elijah answered him,^[b] “If I am a man of God, let 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.

¹³ Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. So the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.^{(A) 14} Look, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he set out and went down with him to the king^{(B) 16} and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not leave the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.”^(C)

Death of Ahaziah

¹⁷ So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. His brother^[c] Jehoram succeeded him as king in the second year of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.^{(D) 18} Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?

¹² Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.^(A)

Families of the Levites and Their Functions

23 When David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.^(A)

The Futility of Seeking Wisdom

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.