The Death of King Ahaziah
1After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and was hurt. So he sent messengers and told them, “Go and inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.” 3But the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Rise, 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 Baal-zebub, god of Ekron? 4Therefore this is what Yahweh says: You will not come down from the bed you have climbed onto — you will surely die.” And Elijah went. 5The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “Why have you come back?” 6They said to him, “A man came up to meet us and told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and say to him: This is what Yahweh says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed you have climbed onto — you will surely die.’” 7He asked them, “What did the man look like who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” 8They answered him, “A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.” 9So the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty men to him. He went up to him — Elijah was sitting on top of the hill — and said to him, “Man of God, the king says: Come down.” 10Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “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 him and his fifty men. 11The king sent another captain of fifty with his fifty men to him. He said to him, “Man of God, this is what the king says: Come down at once.” 12Elijah answered them, “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 him and his fifty men. 13The king sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. This third captain went up, and when he reached Elijah, he fell on his knees before him and begged him, “Man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your eyes. 14Fire has already come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their men. So now, let my life be precious in your eyes.” 15The angel of Yahweh said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. 16And he said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: Because you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron — is it because there is no God in Israel to consult? — you will not come down from the bed you have climbed onto. You will surely die.” 17So he died, in keeping with the word Yahweh had spoken through Elijah. And Joram began to reign in his place, in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah — for Ahaziah had no son. 18As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, are they not written in the Annals of the Kings of Israel?
