Ahaziah’s Messengers Meet Elijah

1 Now ^(A)Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. ² And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill. So he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, ^(B)inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, ^(C)whether I will recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to ^(D)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 ^(E)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Now therefore thus says the Lord, ‘^[a](F)You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” Then Elijah departed.

⁵ When the messengers returned to him he said to them, “^[b]Why have you returned?” 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, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending ^(G)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore ^[c]you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”’” ⁷ He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” ⁸ They ^[d]answered him, “^(H)He was a hairy man with a leather girdle ^[e]bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king ^(I)sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, ^(J)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” ^(K)Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ So he again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he said to him, “O man of God, thus says the king, ‘Come down quickly.’” ¹² Elijah replied to them, “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 So he ^(L)again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, “O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my ^[f]life be precious in your sight.” ^15 (M)The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; ^(N)do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers ^(O)to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore ^[g]you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’”

Jehoram Reigns over Israel

¹⁷ So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place ^(P)in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

The Desire for Signs

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, ^(A)we want to see a ^[a]sign from You.” ³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “^(B)An evil and adulterous generation craves for a ^[b]sign; and yet no ^[c]sign will be given to it but the ^[d]sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰ for just as ^(C)Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will ^(D)the Son of Man be ^(E)three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (F)The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because ^(G)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, ^(H)something greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (I)The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, ^(J)something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “^(K)Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and ^(L)the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Changed Relationships

^46 (M)While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His ^(N)mother and ^(O)brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. ⁴⁷ Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”^{[e] 48} But ^[f]Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”