2 Kings 9
1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
And Elisha the prophet sent for one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Make yourself ready for a journey, and take this bottle of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
2 When you arrive, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his companions, and take him to an inner room.
And when you get there, go in search of Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi; and go in and make him get up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room.
3 Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and declare, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run. Do not delay!”
Then take the bottle and put the oil on his head, and say, The Lord says, I have put the holy oil on you to make you king over Israel. Then, opening the door, go in flight, without waiting.
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead,
So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.
5 and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said. “For which of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander,” he replied.
And when he came, he saw the captains of the army seated together; and he said, I have something to say to you, O captain. And Jehu said, To which of us? And he said, To you, O captain.
6 So Jehu got up and went into the house, where the young prophet poured the oil on his head and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel.
And he got up and went into the house; then he put the holy oil on his head and said to him, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, I have made you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.
7 And you are to strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD shed by the hand of Jezebel.
You are to see that the family of Ahab your master is cut off, so that I may take from Jezebel payment for the blood of my servants the prophets, and for the blood of all the servants of the Lord.
8 The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both slave and free, in Israel.
For the family of Ahab will come to an end; every male of Ahab's family will be cut off, he who is shut up and he who goes free in Israel.
9 I will make the house of Ahab like the houses of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah.
I will make the family of Ahab like that of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and Baasha, the son of Ahijah.
10 And on the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour Jezebel, and there will be no one to bury her.’” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.
And Jezebel will become food for the dogs in the heritage of Jezreel, and there will be no one to put her body into the earth. Then, opening the door, he went in flight.
11 When Jehu went out to the servants of his master, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?” “You know his kind and their babble,” he replied.
Then Jehu came out again to the servants of his lord, and one said to him, Is all well? why did this man, who is off his head, come to you? And he said to them, You have knowledge of the man and of his talk.
12 “That is a lie!” they said. “Tell us now!” So Jehu answered, “He talked to me about this and that, and he said, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
And they said, That is not true; now give us his story. Then he said, This is what he said to me: The Lord says, I have made you king over Israel.
13 Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”
Then straight away everyone took his robe and put it under him on the top of the steps, and, sounding the horn, they said, Jehu is king.
14 Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram,
So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, made designs against Joram. (Now Joram and all the army of Israel were keeping watch on Ramoth-gilead because of Hazael, king of Aram:
15 but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had suffered at the hands of the Arameans in the battle against Hazael their king.) So Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then do not let anyone escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.”
But King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram.) And Jehu said, If this is your purpose, then let no one get away and go out of the town to give news of it in Jezreel.
16 Then Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel, because Joram was laid up there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.
So Jehu got into his carriage and went to Jezreel, for Joram was ill in bed there; and Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come down to see Joram.
17 Now the watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, and he called out, “I see a company of troops!” “Choose a rider,” Joram commanded. “Send him out to meet them and ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’”
And the watchman on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu and his band coming, and said, I see a band of people. And Joram said, Send out a horseman to them, and let him say, Is it peace?
18 So a horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.”
So a horseman went out to them and said, The king says, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? come after me. And the watchman gave them word, saying, The horseman went up to them, but has not come back.
19 So the king sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”
Then he sent out a second horseman, who came up to them and said, The king says, Is it peace? And Jehu said in answer, What have you to do with peace? come after me.
20 Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the charioteer is driving like Jehu son of Nimshi —he is driving like a madman!”
And the watchman gave them word, saying, He went up to them and has not come back again; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, for he is driving violently.
21 “Harness!” Joram shouted, and they harnessed his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Then Joram said, Make ready. So they made his carriage ready; and Joram, king of Israel, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out in their carriages for the purpose of meeting Jehu; and they came face to face with him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
Now when Joram saw Jehu he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said in answer, What peace is possible while all the land is full of the disgusting sins of your mother Jezebel, and her secret arts?
23 Joram turned around and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”
Then Joram, turning his horses in flight, said to Ahaziah, Broken faith, O Ahaziah!
24 Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.
Then Jehu took his bow in his hand, and with all his strength sent an arrow, wounding Joram between the arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he went down on his face in his carriage.
25 And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, the LORD lifted up this burden against him:
Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain, Take him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for is not that day in your memory when you and I together on our horses were going after Ahab, his father, and the Lord put this fate on him, saying:
26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”
I saw the blood of Naboth and of his sons yesterday; and I will give you full payment in this field, says the Lord? So now, take him and put him in this field, as the Lord said.
27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there.
Now when Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this, he went in flight by the way of the garden house. And Jehu came after him and said, Put him to death in the same way; and they gave him a death-wound in his carriage, on the slope up to Gur, by Ibleam; and he went in flight to Megiddo, where death came to him.
28 Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David.
And his servants took him in a carriage to Jerusalem, and put him into the earth with his fathers in the town of David.
29 (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.)
(In the eleventh year of the rule of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.)
30 Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.
And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel had news of it; and, painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window.
31 And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?”
And when Jehu was coming into the town, she said, Is all well, O Zimri, taker of your master's life?
32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.
Then, looking up to the window, he said, Who is on my side, who? and two or three unsexed servants put out their heads.
33 “Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
And he said, Take her and put her out of the window. So they sent her down with force, and her blood went in a shower on the wall and on the horses; and she was crushed under their feet.
34 Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.”
And he came in, and took food and drink; then he said, Now see to this cursed woman, and put her body into the earth, for she is a king's daughter.
35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.
And they went out to put her body into the earth, but nothing of her was to be seen, only the bones of her head, and her feet, and parts of her hands.
36 So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel.
So they came back and gave him word of it. And he said, This is what the Lord said by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the heritage of Jezreel the flesh of Jezebel will become food for dogs;
37 And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”
And the dead body of Jezebel will be like waste dropped on the face of the earth in the heritage of Jezreel; so that they will not be able to say, This is Jezebel.
