Ahaziah dies
1After King Ahab died, the people of Moab rebelled_against the king_of_Israel. 2King Ahaziah fell through a window from his upper room in Samaria and he was hurt and became very sick. He then sent messengers to Baal-Zebub, the god of the town of Ekron, to ask him if he would get better and live after this fall.
3Then an angel of the Lord said to Elijah from the town of Tishbe: ‘You must go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria. You must tell them: “Do you think there is no God in the land_of_Israel? Why are you asking Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, what will happen? 4The Lord is telling your king: Because you have asked the god of Ekron what will happen, you will not get off the bed that you are lying on. You will die, that is sure.” ’
Elijah told this to the messengers and then he went away. 5When the messengers came back to the king, the king asked them: ‘Why did you come back?’
6The messengers said to the king: ‘A man came to us and he told us that we must go back to the king that sent us to Baal-Zebub and we must tell you: “The Lord says: Do you think there is no God in the land_of_Israel? Why are you asking Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, what will happen? Because you did this, you will not get off the bed that you are lying on and you will die, that is sure.” ’
7The king asked the messengers: ‘What did the man who came to meet you and who told you these things look like?’ 8They told the king: ‘The man was wearing a coat with hair on it, made of animal skins and he had a leather belt.’ Then the king said: ‘That is Elijah from the town of Tishbe.’
9The king sent an officer and 50 men and they went up the hill to where Elijah lived. The officer said to Elijah: ‘Man of God, the king says you must come down.’ 10Elijah answered the officer and said: ‘If I am a man of God, then fire will come down from heaven and burn you and your 50 men.’ Then fire came down from heaven and burnt the officer and his 50 men.
11The king sent another officer and 50 men. The officer said to Elijah: ‘Man of God, the king says you must hurry and come down.’ 12Elijah answered the officer and said: ‘If I am a man of God, then fire will come down from heaven and burn you and your 50 men.’ Then fire from God came down from heaven and burnt the officer and his 50 men.
13The king sent a 3rd officer and 50 men. The 3rd officer came up to Elijah and he knelt before him and begged him and said: ‘Man of God, please, do not let me and these 50 men die. 14I know that fire came down from heaven and burnt the first 2 officers with their men, but please do not let me die.’ 15The angel of the Lord said to Elijah: ‘Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.’
Elijah got up and he went down with the officer to the king. 16Elijah said to the king: ‘The Lord says: You have sent messengers to Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask what will happen to you. Do you think there is no God in the land_of_Israel? Why didn't you ask Him what will happen? Because you have asked the god of Ekron, you will not get off the bed that you are lying on and you will die, that is sure.’
17King Ahaziah died as the Lord told Elijah to tell the king. Ahaziah had no sons and Joram became king after Ahaziah. This was in the 2nd year after Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, had become king_of_Judah. 18All the other things that Ahaziah did are written in the book of the history of the kings_of_Israel.
