2 Kings 1:9

⁷ And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words?

⁸ And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.

¹⁰ And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

¹¹ Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’”
KJV: Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
WEB: Then the king sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’”
ASV: Then [the king] sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he spake unto him, O man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
DARBY: And he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he sat on the top of the mount. And he spoke to him: Man of God, the king says, Come down!
BLB: And the king sent to him a captain of fifty, and his fifty. And he went up to him, and there he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “Man of God, the king has said: ‘Come down.’”

ÅB: Og han sendte til ham en høvedsmann over femti med sine menn; og han gikk opp til ham, der han satt på toppen av fjellet, og han sa til ham: Du Guds mann! Kongen sier: Kom ned!
OTB: Da sendte kongen en kaptein med femti mann til Elia. Han gikk opp til Elia, som satt på toppen av en høyde, og sa til ham, “Guds mann, kongen sier, ‘Kom ned!’”
B1930: Og han sendte til ham en høvedsmann over femti med sine menn; og han gikk op til ham, der han satt på toppen av fjellet, og han sa til ham: Du Guds mann! Kongen sier: Kom ned!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Hebrews 11:36
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
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2 Kings 6:13–14
And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
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Luke 6:11–12
And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
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Amos 7:12
Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
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Matthew 26:68
Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
Read in context
Matthew 14:3
For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.
Read in context
1 Kings 22:26–27
And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;
Read in context
1 Kings 18:4
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
Read in context