The Lord’s Judgment on Ahaziah

1 After Ahab’s death, Moab^(A) rebelled against Israel. ² Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers,^(B) saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub,^(C) the god of Ekron,^(D) to see if I will recover^(E) from this injury.”

³ But the angel^(F) of the Lord said to Elijah^(G) the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel^(H) that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You will not leave^(I) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’” So Elijah went.

⁵ When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you come back?”

⁶ “A man came to meet us,” they replied. “And he said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave^(J) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”’”

⁷ The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?”

⁸ They replied, “He had a garment of hair^[a](K) and had a leather belt around his waist.”

The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then he sent^(L) to Elijah a captain^(M) with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!’”

¹⁰ Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then fire^(N) fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

¹¹ At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’”

¹² “If I am a man of God,” Elijah replied, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!” Then the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

¹³ So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. “Man of God,” he begged, “please have respect for my life^(O) and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! ¹⁴ See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!”

¹⁵ The angel^(P) of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid^(Q) of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

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^(R) to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave^(S) the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” ¹⁷ So he died,^(T) according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.

Because Ahaziah had no son, Joram^[b](U) succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. ¹⁸ As for all the other events of Ahaziah’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Moab Revolts

3 Joram^[a](A) son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. ² He did evil^(B) in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father^(C) and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone^(D) of Baal that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he clung to the sins^(E) of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

⁴ Now Mesha king of Moab^(F) raised sheep, and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs^(G) and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. ⁵ But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled^(H) against the king of Israel. ⁶ So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel. ⁷ He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight^(I) against Moab?”

“I will go with you,” he replied. “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

⁸ “By what route shall we attack?” he asked.

“Through the Desert of Edom,” he answered.

⁹ So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom.^(J) After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.

¹⁰ “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?”

¹¹ But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire^(K) of the Lord?”

An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha^(L) son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.^[b](M)”

¹² Jehoshaphat said, “The word^(N) of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

¹³ Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.”

“No,” the king of Israel answered, “because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to deliver us into the hands of Moab.”

¹⁴ Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a harpist.”^(O)

While the harpist was playing, the hand^(P) of the Lord came on Elisha ¹⁶ and he said, “This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. ¹⁷ For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water,^(Q) and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. ¹⁸ This is an easy^(R) thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands. ¹⁹ You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.”

²⁰ The next morning, about the time^(S) for offering the sacrifice, there it was—water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.^(T)

²¹ Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to fight against them; so every man, young and old, who could bear arms was called up and stationed on the border. ²² When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites across the way, the water looked red—like blood. ²³ “That’s blood!” they said. “Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other. Now to the plunder, Moab!”

²⁴ But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites. ²⁵ They destroyed the towns, and each man threw a stone on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth^(U) was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it.

²⁶ When the king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed. ²⁷ Then he took his firstborn^(V) son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.

Jehoshaphat King of Judah^(A)

⁴¹ Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa^(B) and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. The high places,^(C) however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.^{[a] 44} Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ As for the other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes^(D) who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa. ⁴⁷ There was then no king^(E) in Edom; a provincial governor ruled.

⁴⁸ Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships^[b](F) to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.^{(G) 49} At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my men sail with yours,” but Jehoshaphat refused.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign^(A)

³¹ So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ³² He followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. ³³ The high places,^(B) however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.

³⁴ The other events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the annals of Jehu^(C) son of Hanani, which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance^(D) with Ahaziah king of Israel, whose ways were wicked.^{(E) 36} He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships.^[a] After these were built at Ezion Geber, ³⁷ Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” The ships^(F) were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.^[b]

⁵⁰ Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him as king.

21 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Jehoram^(A) his son succeeded him as king. ² Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.^{[a] 3} Their father had given them many gifts^(B) of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities^(C) in Judah, but he had given the kingdom to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.

Jehoram King of Judah^(D)

⁴ When Jehoram established^(E) himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers^(F) to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel.

Jehoram King of Judah^(A)

¹⁶ In the fifth year of Joram^(B) son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram^(C) son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. ¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. ¹⁸ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter^(D) of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy^(E) Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp^(F) for David and his descendants forever.

²⁰ In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.^{(G) 21} So Jehoram^[a] went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. ²² To this day Edom has been in rebellion^(H) against Judah. Libnah^(I) revolted at the same time.

⁵ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. ⁶ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel,^(A) as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.^(B) He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ⁷ Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David,^(C) the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David.^(D) He had promised to maintain a lamp^(E) for him and his descendants forever.