2 Kings 1 | » |
1 And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2 [Now] Ahaziah fell through the lattice that was in his upper chamber in Samaria, and was sick. And he sent messengers, and said to them, Go and inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this my sickness. And they went to inquire of him.
3 And an angel of the Lord called Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, and go to meet the messengers of Ahaziah king of Samaria, and you shall say to them, [Is it] because there is no God in Israel, [that] you go to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? But [it shall] not [be] so.
4 For thus says the Lord: The bed on which you have gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die. And Elijah went, and said [thus] to them.
5 And the messenger returned to him, and he said to them, Why have you returned?
6 And they said to him, A man came up to meet us, and said to us, Go, return to the king that sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord: [Is it] because there is no God in Israel, [that] you go to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? [It shall] not [be] so: the bed on which you have gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.
7 So they returned and reported to the king as Elijah said. And he said to them, What [was] the manner of the man who went up to meet you, and spoke to you these words?
8 And they said to him, [He was] a hairy man, and girded with a leather belt about his loins. And he said, This is Elijah the Tishbite.
9 And he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty [men]. And he went up to him; and behold, Elijah sat on the top of a mountain. And the captain of fifty spoke to him, and said, O man of God, the king has called you, come down.
10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, And if I [am] a man of God, fire shall come down out of heaven, and devour you and your fifty [men]. And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured him and the fifty.
11 And the king sent a second time to him another captain of fifty, and his fifty. And the captain of fifty spoke to him, and said, O man of God, thus says the king, Come down quickly.
12 And Elijah answered and spoke to him, and said, If I [am] a man of God, fire shall come down out of heaven, and devour you and your fifty. And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured him and his fifty.
13 And the king sent yet again a captain and his fifty. And the third captain of fifty came, and knelt on his knees before Elijah, and entreated him, and spoke to him and said, O man of God, let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your eyes.
14 Behold, fire came down from heaven, and devoured the two first captains of fifty; and now, I pray, let my life be precious in your eyes.
15 And the Angel of the Lord spoke to Elijah, and said, Go down with him, be not afraid of them. And Elijah rose up, and went down with him to the king.
16 And Elijah spoke to him, and said, Thus says the Lord: Why have you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? [It shall] not [be] so; the bed on which you have gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die.
17 So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken.
18 And the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, behold, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Jehoram son of Ahab reiged over Israel in Samaria twelve years, [beginning] in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, only not as his brethren, nor as his mother; and he removed the pillars of Baal which his father made, and broke them in pieces; only he was joined to the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who led Israel to sin; he departed not from them. And the Lord was very angry with the house of Ahab.
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