22:8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, 1 “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple 2 and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.” 22:10 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 22:11 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes. 22:12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 22:13 “Go, seek an oracle from 3 the Lord for me and the people – for all Judah. Find out about 4 the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, 5 because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” 6
22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. 7 (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh 8 district.) They stated their business, 9 22:15 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me: 22:16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read. 10 22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices 11 to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. 12 My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard: 22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 13 and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 14 You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord. 22:20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. 15 You will not have to witness 16 all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.
22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 17 His mother 18 was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath.
1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 19 1:2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria 20 and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, 21 “Go, ask 22 Baal Zebub, 23 the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.”
1:3 But 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. 24 1:4 Therefore 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.
1:5 When the messengers returned to the king, 25 he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 1:6 They replied, 26 “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. 27 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.”’” 1:7 The king 28 asked them, “Describe the appearance 29 of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 1:8 They replied, 30 “He was a hairy man 31 and had a leather belt 32 tied around his waist.” The king 33 said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.”
1:9 The king 34 sent a captain and his fifty soldiers 35 to retrieve Elijah. 36 The captain 37 went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. 38 He told him, “Prophet, 39 the king says, ‘Come down!’” 1:10 Elijah replied to the captain, 40 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire then came down 41 from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:11 The king 42 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 43 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 44 1:12 Elijah replied to them, 45 “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your fifty soldiers!” Fire from God 46 came down from the sky and consumed him and his fifty soldiers.
1:13 The king 47 sent a third captain and his fifty soldiers. This third captain went up and fell 48 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. 1:14 Indeed, 49 fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men. 50 So now, please have respect for my life.” 1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down 51 with him to the king.
1:16 Elijah 52 said to the king, 53 “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! 54 Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.’” 55
1:17 He died just as the Lord had prophesied through Elijah. 56 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. 57 1:18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 58