| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1After King Ahab’s death, the land of Moab rebelled against Israel. | 1After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. |
| 2One day Israel’s new king, Ahaziah, fell through the latticework of an upper room at his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent messengers to the temple of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether he would recover. | 2Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, "Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury." |
| 3But the angel of the LORD told Elijah, who was from Tishbe, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is there no God in Israel? Why are you going to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether the king will recover? | 3But the LORD's angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, "Get up, go to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: 'You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. |
| 4Now, therefore, this is what the LORD says: You will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’” So Elijah went to deliver the message. | 4Therefore this is what the LORD says, "You will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die!"'" So Elijah went on his way. |
| 5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned so soon?” | 5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you returned?" |
| 6They replied, “A man came up to us and told us to go back to the king and give him this message. ‘This is what the LORD says: Is there no God in Israel? Why are you sending men to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.’” | 6They replied, "A man came up to meet us. He told us, "Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: "You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die."'" |
| 7“What sort of man was he?” the king demanded. “What did he look like?” | 7The king asked them, "Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things." |
| 8They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.” “Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed. | 8They replied, "He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist." The king said, "He is Elijah the Tishbite." |
| 9Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.” | 9The king sent a captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him, "Prophet, the king says, 'Come down!'" |
| 10But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all. | 10Elijah replied to the captain, "If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!" Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers. |
| 11So the king sent another captain with fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king demands that you come down at once.” | 11The king sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, "Prophet, this is what the king says, 'Come down at once!'" |
| 12Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all. | 12Elijah replied to them, "If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!" Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers. |
| 13Once more the king sent a third captain with fifty men. But this time the captain went up the hill and fell to his knees before Elijah. He pleaded with him, “O man of God, please spare my life and the lives of these, your fifty servants. | 13The king sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, "Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these fifty servants of yours. |
| 14See how the fire from heaven came down and destroyed the first two groups. But now please spare my life!” | 14Indeed, fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. So now, please have respect for my life." |
| 15Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him, and don’t be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went with him to the king. | 15The LORD's angelic messenger said to Elijah, "Go down with him. Don't be afraid of him." So he got up and went down with him to the king. |
| 16And Elijah said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: Why did you send messengers to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to ask whether you will recover? Is there no God in Israel to answer your question? Therefore, because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on; you will surely die.” | 16Elijah said to the king, "This is what the LORD says, 'You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle! Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.'" |
| 17So Ahaziah died, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah. Since Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him, his brother Joram became the next king. This took place in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. | 17He died just as the LORD had prophesied through Elijah. In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah, Ahaziah's brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. |
| 18The rest of the events in Ahaziah’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. | 18The rest of the events of Ahaziah's reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. |
|
