³ But the angel of the Lord said to ^(A)Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of ^(B)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

⁶ They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers ^(A)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ^[a]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”’”

¹⁶ Then he said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Since you have sent messengers ^(A)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore ^[a]you will not get down from the bed upon which you have lain, but you shall certainly die.’”

²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he may become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. ^(A)If they have called the head of the house ^[a](B)Beelzebul, how much more will they insult the members of his household!

²² The scribes who came down ^(A)from Jerusalem were saying, “He ^[a]is possessed by ^[b](B)Beelzebul,” and “^(C)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”