1 ARST After King Ahab died, the country of Moab rebelled against Israel. BSB BSB: After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 ARST One day, Ahaziah, the new king of Israel, fell through the wooden slats in his upstairs room, in his palace in Samaria, and was injured. So he sent for his messengers and commanded them,“Go and ask of Baal- Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether or not I will recover from this injury.” BSB BSB: Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”
3 ARST But the angel from Yahweh said to Elijah, the prophet from the city of Tishbe,“The king of Samaria is sending some messengers to Ekron. Go and meet them and say to them,‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you wish to ask Baal- Zebub whether you will recover?’ BSB BSB: But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’
4 ARST Yahweh says that you should tell King Ahaziah that he will not recover from his being injured; he will surely die.” Then Elijah left. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed.
5 ARST So Elijah went to meet the messengers and told that to them, and they returned to the king instead of going to Ekron. The king asked them,“Why have you come back so quickly?” BSB BSB: When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
6 ARST They replied,“A man came to meet us and said to us,‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that Yahweh says,“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you wish to ask Baal- Zebub whether you will recover?” Go tell the king that he will not recover from being injured; instead, he will surely die.’” BSB BSB: They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’”
7 ARST The king said to them,“The man who came to meet you and told that to you, what did he look like?” BSB BSB: The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”
8 ARST They replied,“He was wearing a cloak made from camel hair and had a wide leather belt around his waist.” The king exclaimed,“That must be Elijah!” BSB BSB: “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.
9 ARST Then the king sent an officer with fifty soldiers to seize Elijah. They found Elijah sitting on the top of a hill. The officer called out to him,“Prophet, the king commands that you come down here!” BSB BSB: Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”
10 ARST But Elijah replied to the officer,“I am a prophet, so I command that fire come down from the sky and burn up you and your fifty soldiers!” Immediately, fire came down from the sky and completely burned up the officer and his fifty soldiers. BSB BSB: Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
11 ARST When the king found out about that, he sent another officer with fifty more soldiers. They went to where Elijah was, and the officer called out to him,“Prophet, the king commands that you come down immediately!” BSB BSB: So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’”
12 ARST But Elijah replied,“I am a prophet, so I command that fire come down from the sky and kill you and your soldiers!” Then a fire from God came down from the sky and killed that officer and his soldiers. BSB BSB: Again Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
13 ARST When the king heard about that, he sent still another officer with fifty more soldiers. They went to where Elijah was; the officer prostrated himself in front of Elijah and said to him,“Prophet, I plead with you, be kind to me and my fifty soldiers, and do not kill us! BSB BSB: So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours please be precious in your sight.
14 ARST We know that two times fire came down from the sky and killed officers and the soldiers with them. So now, please be kind to me!” BSB BSB: Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.”
15 ARST Then the angel from Yahweh said to Elijah,“Go down and go with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah went with them to the king. BSB BSB: Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.
16 ARST When Elijah arrived, he said to the king,“This is what Yahweh says:‘You sent messengers to go to Ekron to ask Baal- Zebub, their god, whether you would recover. You acted as though there is no God in Israel to consult. So you will not recover from being injured; instead, you are going to die!’” BSB BSB: And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.”
17 ARST So Ahaziah died, which is what Yahweh told Elijah would happen. Ahaziah’ s younger brother Joram became the new king, at the same time that Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, had been ruling Judah for almost two years. Ahaziah’ s brother became the king because Ahaziah had no son to become the king. BSB BSB: So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram succeeded him in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah.
18 ARST If you want to know about all the other things that Ahaziah did, they are written in the Book of the Events of the Kings of Israel. BSB BSB: As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.