II Kings 1

¹Then Moab powerfully broke covenant with Israel after the death of Ahab.

²And Ahaziah fell through the lattice-work in his upper chamber that was in Samaria and became grievously ill; so he sent messengers commanding them: 'Go, seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall live from this sickness.'

³But the Angel of YHWH spoke powerfully to Elijah the Tishbite: 'Rise up, ascend to encounter the messengers of the king of Samaria, and declare to them: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?'

⁴Therefore, thus declares YHWH with authority: 'The bed upon which you have ascended—you shall not descend from it, for you shall surely die.' And Elijah departed.

⁵And the messengers returned to him, and he said to them: 'What is this that you have returned?'

⁶And they declared to him: 'A man of authority ascended to encounter us and commanded us: Go, return to the sovereign king who dispatched you, and proclaim to him: Thus declares YHWH with supreme authority: Is it because there is no Almighty God reigning in Israel that you are dispatching messengers to seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the powerless deity of Ekron? Therefore, from the bed of authority upon which you have ascended, you shall not descend from it, for dying you shall surely die.'

⁷And he spoke authoritatively to them: 'What was the manner of judgment and bearing of the man who ascended to encounter you and declared to you these powerful words?'

⁸And they declared to him: 'A man clothed with a mantle of strength, with a belt of authority girded about his loins.' And he proclaimed: 'It is Elijah the Tishbite—the mighty one!'

⁹Then he dispatched to him a captain of fifty with his fifty warriors. And he ascended to him, and behold, he was enthroned upon the summit of the mountain. And he spoke to him: 'Man of the Almighty God, the sovereign king has commanded: Descend!'

¹⁰And Elijah answered with authority and declared to the captain of the fifty: 'If indeed I am a man of the Almighty God, let fire descend from the heavens and consume you and your fifty warriors!' And fire descended from the heavens with divine power and consumed him and his fifty warriors.

¹¹And he returned and dispatched to him another commander of fifty with his fifty. And he responded and declared to him, 'O mighty man of the Almighty God, thus has the sovereign king commanded: Swiftly descend!'

¹²And Elijah responded and declared to them, 'If I am a mighty man of the Almighty God, let fire descend from the heavens and consume you and your fifty!' And the fire of the Almighty God descended from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.

¹³And he returned and dispatched a third commander of fifty with his fifty. And the third commander of fifty ascended and came and knelt upon his knees before Elijah and entreated him and declared to him, 'Mighty man of the Almighty God, let my soul be precious now and the souls of these fifty your servants in your sight.'

¹⁴Behold, fire descended from the heavens and consumed the two former commanders of fifty and their fifties. And now let my soul be precious in your sight.

¹⁵And the messenger of Yahweh declared to Elijah, 'Descend with him; do not fear from his presence.' And he arose and descended with him to the sovereign king.

¹⁶And he proclaimed to him: 'Thus declares YHWH with supreme authority: Because you dispatched royal messengers to seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the false deity of Ekron—as if there were no Almighty God in Israel to seek His sovereign word—therefore from the bed where you have ascended, you shall never descend, for you shall surely perish by divine decree.'

¹⁷So he perished according to the sovereign word of YHWH which Elijah had proclaimed with authority. And Jehoram reigned as king in his place in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no heir.

¹⁸Now the remaining chronicles of Ahaziah's mighty deeds which he accomplished—are they not inscribed in the authoritative scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel?

Scholarly

Then Moab powerfully broke covenant with Israel after the death of Ahab.

Layman's

After King Ahab died, Moab broke their covenant with Israel and rebelled.

Scholarly

And Ahaziah fell through the lattice-work in his upper chamber that was in Samaria and became grievously ill; so he sent messengers commanding them: 'Go, seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall live from this sickness.'

Layman's

King Ahaziah fell through a window screen in his upstairs room in Samaria and was badly injured. He sent messengers with orders: 'Go ask Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this injury.'

Scholarly

But the Angel of YHWH spoke powerfully to Elijah the Tishbite: 'Rise up, ascend to encounter the messengers of the king of Samaria, and declare to them: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?'

Layman's

But the Angel of the LORD spoke to Elijah from Tishbe: 'Get up and go meet the king's messengers from Samaria. Tell them: Are you going to ask Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, for advice because there is no God in Israel?'

⁴

Scholarly

Therefore, thus declares YHWH with authority: 'The bed upon which you have ascended—you shall not descend from it, for you shall surely die.' And Elijah departed.

Layman's

So this is what the LORD says: 'You will not get up from the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die.' Then Elijah left.

⁵

Scholarly

And the messengers returned to him, and he said to them: 'What is this that you have returned?'

Layman's

When the messengers came back to the king, he asked them, 'Why have you returned so soon?'

⁶

Scholarly

And they declared to him: 'A man of authority ascended to encounter us and commanded us: Go, return to the sovereign king who dispatched you, and proclaim to him: Thus declares YHWH with supreme authority: Is it because there is no Almighty God reigning in Israel that you are dispatching messengers to seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the powerless deity of Ekron? Therefore, from the bed of authority upon which you have ascended, you shall not descend from it, for dying you shall surely die.'

Layman's

They told him: 'A powerful man came to meet us and commanded us: Go back to the king who sent you and tell him: This is what the LORD declares with absolute authority: Is it because there is no Almighty God ruling in Israel that you send messengers to ask Baal-zebub, the false god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not get up from the bed you are lying on—you will certainly die.'

⁷

Scholarly

And he spoke authoritatively to them: 'What was the manner of judgment and bearing of the man who ascended to encounter you and declared to you these powerful words?'

Layman's

He asked them: 'What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you these things?'

⁸

Scholarly

And they declared to him: 'A man clothed with a mantle of strength, with a belt of authority girded about his loins.' And he proclaimed: 'It is Elijah the Tishbite—the mighty one!'

Layman's

They answered him: 'He was a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.' The king said: 'That was Elijah the Tishbite!'

⁹

Scholarly

Then he dispatched to him a captain of fifty with his fifty warriors. And he ascended to him, and behold, he was enthroned upon the summit of the mountain. And he spoke to him: 'Man of the Almighty God, the sovereign king has commanded: Descend!'

Layman's

So the king sent a captain with fifty men to Elijah. The captain went up to him and found him sitting on top of a hill. He said to him: 'Man of God, the king commands you to come down!'

¹⁰

Scholarly

And Elijah answered with authority and declared to the captain of the fifty: 'If indeed I am a man of the Almighty God, let fire descend from the heavens and consume you and your fifty warriors!' And fire descended from the heavens with divine power and consumed him and his fifty warriors.

Layman's

Elijah answered the captain: 'If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men!' Then fire came down from heaven and burned up the captain and his men.

¹¹

Scholarly

And he returned and dispatched to him another commander of fifty with his fifty. And he responded and declared to him, 'O mighty man of the Almighty God, thus has the sovereign king commanded: Swiftly descend!'

Layman's

The king sent another captain with fifty soldiers. The captain said to Elijah, 'Mighty man of God, the king commands you to come down immediately!'

¹²

Scholarly

And Elijah responded and declared to them, 'If I am a mighty man of the Almighty God, let fire descend from the heavens and consume you and your fifty!' And the fire of the Almighty God descended from the heavens and consumed him and his fifty.

Layman's

Elijah answered, 'If I am truly a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!' And God's fire came down from heaven and destroyed them all.

¹³

Scholarly

And he returned and dispatched a third commander of fifty with his fifty. And the third commander of fifty ascended and came and knelt upon his knees before Elijah and entreated him and declared to him, 'Mighty man of the Almighty God, let my soul be precious now and the souls of these fifty your servants in your sight.'

Layman's

The king sent a third captain with fifty men. This captain climbed up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, 'Man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these fifty men who serve you!'

¹⁴

Scholarly

Behold, fire descended from the heavens and consumed the two former commanders of fifty and their fifties. And now let my soul be precious in your sight.

Layman's

Look, fire came down from heaven and destroyed the first two captains and their men. Now please spare my life!

¹⁵

Scholarly

And the messenger of Yahweh declared to Elijah, 'Descend with him; do not fear from his presence.' And he arose and descended with him to the sovereign king.

Layman's

Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, 'Go down with him; don't be afraid of him.' So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

¹⁶

Scholarly

And he proclaimed to him: 'Thus declares YHWH with supreme authority: Because you dispatched royal messengers to seek counsel from Baal-zebub, the false deity of Ekron—as if there were no Almighty God in Israel to seek His sovereign word—therefore from the bed where you have ascended, you shall never descend, for you shall surely perish by divine decree.'

Layman's

Then Elijah boldly declared to the king: 'The LORD Almighty says this: You sent messengers to ask advice from a false god in Ekron, acting as if there were no true God in Israel to consult. Because of this rebellion, you will never get up from that bed—you will certainly die.'

¹⁷

Scholarly

So he perished according to the sovereign word of YHWH which Elijah had proclaimed with authority. And Jehoram reigned as king in his place in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because he had no heir.

Layman's

So the king died exactly as the LORD had declared through Elijah. Jehoram became king in his place during the second year of King Jehoram of Judah (son of Jehoshaphat), because Ahaziah had no son to inherit the throne.

¹⁸

Scholarly

Now the remaining chronicles of Ahaziah's mighty deeds which he accomplished—are they not inscribed in the authoritative scroll of the chronicles of the days of the kings of Israel?

Layman's

The rest of the history of King Ahaziah and everything he did is written in the official record book of the kings of Israel.

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