Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders
1After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel.
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
4Therefore this is what the
5When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
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
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 had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
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!’”
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.
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 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.
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.
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.”
15The
16Elijah said to the king, “This is what the
17He died just as the
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.