1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah* Ahab's son who had succeeded him as king of Israel. had fallen through the lattice-work† Lattice-work: perhaps the shade used to cover a window. of his upper room in Samaria and had hurt himself badly. So he sent out messengers, telling them: “Go and ask Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will get better from this injury.”

3 But the angel of the Lord told Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there's no God in Israel that you're going to ask advice from Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 4 So this is the Lord's answer: ‘You will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.’ ” And Elijah left.

5 The messengers returned to the king, and he asked them, “Why have you come back?”

6 “A man came and met us,” they replied. “He told us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and tell him, This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to ask advice from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? As a result you will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.’ ”

7 “What was he like, this man who met you and told you all this?” the king asked.

8 “He was a hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist,” they replied.

“It's Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

9 Then the king sent an army captain with fifty men to Elijah. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and told him, “Man of God, the king orders you, ‘Come down!’ ”

10 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, then let fire fall from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men.” Fire fell from heaven and burned up the captain and his men.

11 So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah. The captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king orders you, Come down immediately!”

12 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, then let fire fall from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men.” Fire fell from heaven and burned up the captain and his men.

13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up, kneeled before Elijah, and pleaded with him, “Man of God, please value my life and the lives of these fifty men. 14 Yes, fire has fallen from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifty, along with all their men. But now please value my life!”

15 Then the angel of the Lord told Elijah, “Go down with him. You don't have to be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king.

16 Elijah told the king, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Is it because there's no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to ask advice of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? As a result you will not leave the bed on which you are lying. You're definitely going to die.”

17 Ahaziah died just as the Lord had said through Elijah. Because he had no son, Joram‡ “Joram,” spelled here Jehoram. For purposes of clarity the king of Israel is called Joram in this translation, while the king of Judah is called Jehoram, though the names are basically the same and are used interchangeably in the Hebrew text. succeeded him as king in the second year of the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

18 The rest of what happened in Ahaziah's reign and what he did are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.