^21:12Jehoram²² received this letter from Elijah the prophet: “This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘You²³ have not followed in the footsteps²⁴ of your father Jehoshaphat and of²⁵ King Asa of Judah, ^21:13but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel.²⁶ You also killed your brothers, members of your father’s family,²⁷ who were better than you. ^21:14So look, the Lord is about to severely afflict²⁸ your people, your sons, your wives, and all you own. ^21:15And you will get a serious, chronic intestinal disease which will cause your intestines to come out.”²⁹

Read in Logos

Footnotes

22 Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoram) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
23 Heb “Because you …” In the Hebrew text this lengthy sentence is completed in vv. 14–15. Because of its length and complexity (and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences), the translation has divided it up into several English sentences.
24 Heb “walked in the ways.”
25 Heb “in the ways of.”
26 Heb “and you walked in the way of the kings of Israel and caused Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to commit adultery, like the house of Ahab causes to commit adultery.”
27 Heb “the house of your father.”
28 Heb “to strike with a great striking.”
29 Heb “and you [will have] a serious illness, an illness of the intestines until your intestines come out because of the illness days upon days.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into whoredom, as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you have killed your brothers, of your father’s house, who were better than you, behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’ ”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said:

“This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you. So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’ ”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then a letter came to Jehoram from the prophet Elijah, saying:

This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David says: “Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or in the ways of King Asa of Judah but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves like the house of Ahab prostituted itself, and also have killed your brothers, your father’s family, who were better than you, the Lord is now about to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a horrible affliction. You yourself will be struck with many illnesses, including a disease of the intestines, until your intestines come out day after day because of the disease.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter:

“This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: You have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or your grandfather King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you. So now the Lord is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives, and all that is yours with a heavy blow. You yourself will suffer with a severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels come out.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who were better than you, behold, Yahweh is inflicting a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you yourself will be afflicted with great illness, with sickness in your bowels, until your bowels come out on account of the illness, day by day.’ ”

KJV 1900King James Version

And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself: Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

Public Domain