FAITHLOOP
（《列王纪下》第1章）
(2 Kings 1)
亚哈死了以后，他儿子亚哈谢接着当了以色列王。
After Ahab died, his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king of Israel.
亚哈谢在撒玛利亚当王的时候。有一天，这家伙从城楼的栏杆儿上掉了下来，摔得不轻，随后就病倒了。
While Ahaziah was reigning in Samaria, one day he fell through the lattice of his upper room, was badly injured, and became ill.
他躺在床上，自己在那儿寻思：“我这病还能不能好呢？”
Lying in bed, he wondered to himself, “Am I going to recover from this illness or not?”
他没去求问耶和华上帝，反倒派人去以革伦，找那儿的神巴力西卜打听消息。
Instead of seeking the LORD God, he sent messengers to Ekron to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of that city.
你说人有时就是糊涂！明明可以依靠有耶和华上帝？却跑到别的“庙”那儿问去了？
Sometimes people can really lose their way! When the LORD God was there for him to turn to, why go asking at some other “temple”?
这事儿怎么能瞒过耶和华上帝。
How could something like this possibly escape the LORD God’s notice?
上帝就让天使去告诉提斯比人以利亚：
So God sent His angel to speak to Elijah the Tishbite:
“以利亚啊，你赶紧起来，去拦住撒玛利亚王派出去的那些人，告诉他们：‘你们去问以革伦的神巴力西卜，岂是因以色列中没有神吗？
“Elijah, get up quickly and go meet the messengers sent by the king of Samaria, and tell them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?
“所以，耶和华这样说：亚哈谢啊，你这回是别指望好了，你必定下不了你现在的这张床，非死不可！”
“Therefore, this is what the LORD says: Ahaziah, don’t expect to recover this time. You will never get up from the bed you are lying on; you will surely die!’”
以利亚一听，立马就去了。
Elijah heard this and immediately went.
那些使者还没走到以革伦呢，就让以利亚给拦住了。
Before the messengers even reached Ekron, Elijah stopped them.
听完上帝的话，他们只好原路返回。
After hearing God’s message, they had no choice but to turn back.
亚哈谢一看，这帮人怎么这么快就回来了呢？
When Ahaziah saw them, he wondered why they had returned so quickly.
便问：“咋回事儿？我让你们去办事，你们怎么回来了？”
He asked, “What’s going on? I sent you on an errand, so why have you come back?”
使者就把路上遇见一个人的事儿，一五一十地告诉了王。
The messengers told the king everything about the man they had met on the way.
那人让他们转告国王，说他不该舍近求远，跑去问巴力西卜。
The man had told them to inform the king that he should not go out of his way to inquire of Baal-zebub.
以色列明明可以依靠耶和华上帝，他却不去求问上帝，所以这回他必定要死。
Israel had the LORD God, yet he had not sought Him; therefore, he would surely die.
亚哈谢听完，心里又开始瞎琢磨了。
After hearing this, Ahaziah started wondering about the matter again.
他问使者：
He asked the messengers:
“拦住你们、跟你们说这些话的人，到底长啥样啊？”
“What did the man who stopped you and said these things look like?”
使者回答：
The messengers replied:
“那人穿着一身毛衣，腰上系着一条皮带。”
“He was wearing a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.”
亚哈谢一听，马上就明白了：
As soon as Ahaziah heard this, he knew who it was.
“坏了！这不就是提斯比人以利亚吗！”
“Oh no! That’s Elijah the Tishbite!”
亚哈谢知道是以利亚传的话，心里就不痛快。
Ahaziah knew that Elijah had delivered the message, and he was not happy about it.
于是，他派了一个五十夫长，带着五十个士兵，去找以利亚。
So he sent a captain of fifty men, along with his fifty soldiers, to find Elijah.
这五十夫长领着人上了山，发现以利亚正坐在山顶上呢。
The captain went up the mountain with his men and found Elijah sitting on the top of the hill.
五十夫长扯着嗓子喊：
The captain shouted at the top of his voice:
“神人！国王有令，赶紧给我下来！”口气有点横！
“Man of God! The king commands you to come down at once!” His tone was pretty bossy!
以利亚也没惯着他，直接回答：
Elijah didn’t put up with his attitude and answered him directly:
“我如果真是神人，那就愿天上降下火来，把你和你那五十个人全部烧死！”
“If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!”
话音刚落，轰的一下，天上真降下火来，把那五十夫长和五十个士兵全烧死了。
As soon as he finished speaking, boom! Fire really came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty soldiers.
这真不是闹着玩儿的！
This was no joke!
亚哈谢一看，第一拨人没回来，又派了第二个五十夫长，照样带着五十个士兵去找以利亚。
When Ahaziah saw that the first group had not returned, he sent a second captain of fifty men, along with another fifty soldiers, to find Elijah.
这第二拨人也到了山上，还是那副命令人的架势：
The second group also reached the mountain and took the same commanding attitude:
“神人！国王命令你，赶紧下来！”
“Man of God! The king commands you to come down immediately!”
你说这帮人是不是没看明白呢。
You have to wonder whether these men understood what had happened.
前头刚刚发生完的事儿，是忘了呢还是没记性呢？
Had they already forgotten what had just happened, or were they simply not learning their lesson?
总之还是对神人不客气。
Either way, they were still treating the man of God disrespectfully.
以利亚又说了一遍：
Elijah said again:
“我若是神人，愿火从天上降下来，把你和你那五十个人全部烧死！”
“If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!”
结果呢和先前一样？
And what happened? The same thing as before!
天上又降下火来，第二拨五十夫长和他带来的五十个人，也都被烧死了。
Fire came down from heaven again, and the second captain and his fifty men were also consumed.
这回，接连两拨人都没了。
Now two groups of men had been wiped out one after another.
##
可亚哈谢还不死心，又派了第三个五十夫长，带着五十个人上山去了。
But Ahaziah still wouldn’t give up, so he sent a third captain of fifty men, along with fifty soldiers, up the mountain.
可这第三个人跟前两个人不一样。
But this third captain was different from the first two.
他到了以利亚跟前，没有扯着嗓子喊，也没有摆出高高在上的架势，而是赶紧跪下，苦苦哀求以利亚：
When he came before Elijah, he did not shout or act as if he were above everyone else; instead, he quickly knelt down and pleaded with Elijah:
“神人哪，求求你了！求你看重我和这五十个弟兄的性命吧！
“Man of God, please! Please spare my life and the lives of these fifty men who serve you!
“前两拨人都被天上降下来的火烧死了，这事儿你是知道的。
“The previous two captains and their fifty men were consumed by fire from heaven, as you know.
求你可怜可怜我们，让我们活着回去吧！”
Please have mercy on us and let us return alive!”
这时候，耶和华的使者对以利亚说：
At that moment, the angel of the LORD said to Elijah:
“你跟他下去吧，不用害怕他。”
“Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.”
于是，以利亚就跟着这个五十夫长下山，去见亚哈谢。
So Elijah went down the mountain with the captain and went to see Ahaziah.
以利亚见到亚哈谢以后，没有改口，也没有因为对方是国王就说好听的。
When Elijah stood before Ahaziah, he did not change his message or soften his words just because the man before him was a king.
他把耶和华的话直接转告给亚哈谢：
He delivered the LORD’s message directly to Ahaziah:
“你为啥派人去问以革伦的神巴力西卜？难道以色列没有上帝吗？
“Why did you send messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because there is no God in Israel?
“所以，耶和华说了，你必定下不了你现在躺的这张床，你必定要死！”
“Therefore, the LORD says that you will never get up from the bed you are lying on; you will surely die!”
亚哈谢最后还是死了，正如耶和华借着以利亚所说的那样。
Ahaziah eventually died, just as the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
因为亚哈谢没有儿子，所以他兄弟约兰接着当了以色列王。
Because Ahaziah had no son, his brother Joram succeeded him as king of Israel.
这事儿发生的时候，正赶上犹大王约沙法的儿子约兰登基的第二年。
This happened in the second year of the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
至于亚哈谢其他干过的事儿，都记在《以色列诸王记》上了。
As for the other things Ahaziah did, they are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.