Elijah Denounces Ahaziah

1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.

² Now Ahazi′ah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samar′ia, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Ba′al-ze′bub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” ³ But the angel of the Lord said to Eli′jah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samar′ia, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Ba′al-ze′bub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Now therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.’” So Eli′jah went.

⁵ The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back 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 to inquire of Ba′al-ze′bub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die.’” ⁷ He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” ⁸ They answered him, “He wore a garment of haircloth, with a girdle of leather about his loins.” And he said, “It is Eli′jah the Tishbite.”

⁹ Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Eli′jah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” ¹⁰ But Eli′jah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he went up^[a] and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!’” ¹² But Eli′jah answered 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 Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Eli′jah, and entreated him, “O man of God, I pray you, let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Lo, 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 Eli′jah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king, ¹⁶ and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Ba′al-ze′bub, the god of Ekron,—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.’”

Death of Ahaziah

¹⁷ So he died according to the word of the Lord which Eli′jah had spoken. Jehor′am, his brother,^[b] became king in his stead in the second year of Jehor′am the son of Jehosh′aphat, king of Judah, because Ahazi′ah had no son. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Ahazi′ah which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 Jo′ash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Zib′iah of Beer-sheba. ² And Jo′ash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoi′ada the priest. ³ Jehoi′ada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴ After this Jo′ash decided to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ And he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year; and see that you hasten the matter.” But the Levites did not hasten it. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoi′ada the chief, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, on^[a] the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” ⁷ For the sons of Athali′ah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God; and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Ba′als.

⁸ So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. ¹¹ And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. ¹² And the king and Jehoi′ada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. ¹⁴ And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoi′ada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoi′ada.

Apostasy of Joash

¹⁵ But Jehoi′ada grew old and full of days, and died; he was a hundred and thirty years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoi′ada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king harkened to them. ¹⁸ And they forsook the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Ashe′rim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. ¹⁹ Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord; these testified against them, but they would not give heed.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God took possession of^[b] Zechari′ah the son of Jehoi′ada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” ²¹ But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Jo′ash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoi′ada, Zechari′ah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”

Death of Joash

²³ At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Jo′ash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Jo′ash.

²⁵ When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son^[c] of Jehoi′ada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shim′e-ath the Ammonitess, and Jeho′zabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. ²⁷ Accounts of his sons, and of the many oracles against him, and of the rebuilding^[d] of the house of God are written in the Commentary on the Book of the Kings. And Amazi′ah his son reigned in his stead.

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Psalm of David.