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
- 2 Kings 1:2 = Lord of the Flies
- 2 Kings 1:11 Lit He answered
- 2 Kings 1:12 Lit a fire of God
- 2 Kings 1:17 Lit Jehoram; 2Kg 8:16
- 2 Kings 1:17 LXX omits in the second year . . . Jehoshaphat
- 2 Kings 1:18 LXX adds 4 more vv. here similar to 2Kg 3:1-3.
2 Kings 1
Names of God Bible
Elijah and King Ahaziah of Israel
1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 During the rebellion King Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upstairs room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers to Ekron. He had told them, “Go ask Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury.”
3 Then the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah from Tishbe, “Meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and ask them, ‘Do you seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, because you think there is no Elohim in Israel? 4 This is what Yahweh says: You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.’” Then Elijah left.
5 When the messengers returned, the king asked them, “Why have you come back so soon?”
6 They told him that a man came to meet them and said to them, “Go back to the king who sent you. Tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Do you send messengers to seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, because you think there is no Elohim in Israel? You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.’”
7 The king asked them, “What was the man who told you this like?”
8 They replied, “He was hairy and had a leather belt around his waist.”
“That’s Elijah from Tishbe,” the king answered.
9 The king sent an army officer with 50 men to Elijah. When the officer found Elijah sitting on top of a hill, he told Elijah, “Man of Elohim, the king says, ‘Come down.’”
10 Elijah answered the officer, “If I’m a man of Elohim, fire will come from heaven and burn up you and your 50 men.” Then fire came from heaven and burned up the officer and his 50 men.
11 The king sent another officer with 50 men to Elijah. The officer said, “Man of Elohim, this is what the king says: Come here right away!”
12 Elijah answered the officer, “If I’m a man of Elohim, fire will come from heaven and burn up you and your 50 men.” Then Elohim’s fire came from heaven and burned up the officer and his 50 men.
13 The king sent a third officer with 50 men. The officer of the third group went up the hill and knelt in front of Elijah. The officer begged him, “Man of Elohim, please treat my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours as something precious. 14 Fire has come from heaven and burned up the first two officers and their 100 men. But treat my life as something precious.”
15 The angel of Yahweh told Elijah, “Go with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king. 16 Elijah told the king, “This is what Yahweh says: You sent messengers to seek advice from Baalzebub, the god of Ekron. Is this because you think there is no Elohim in Israel whose word you can seek? You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. Instead, you will die there.”
17 So Ahaziah died as Yahweh had predicted through Elijah. Joram succeeded him as king because Ahaziah had no son.[a] 18 Isn’t everything else about Ahaziah—the things he did—written in the official records of the kings of Israel?
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 1:17 Greek; Masoretic Text “. . . succeeded him in Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram’s second year as king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.”
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