2 Kings 9
1 And Elisha' the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this flask of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gil'ad:
Meanwhile, the prophet Elisha summoned one of the other prophets. He said to him, “Get ready [IDM] and go to Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region]. Take this jar of [olive] oil with you.
2 And when thou art come thither, look out there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and cause him to stand up from the midst of his brethren, and bring him in to the innermost chamber;
When you arrive there, search for a man named Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Go with him into a room away from his companions,
3 And thou shalt then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus hath said the Lord, I have anointed thee as king over Israel. Then must thou open the door, and flee, and not wait for any thing.
and pour [some of] this oil on his head. Then say to him, ‘Yahweh declares that he is appointing you to be the king of Israel.’ Then open the door and run away as quickly as you can.”
4 So the young man, the disciple of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gil'ad.
So the young prophet went to Ramoth.
5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting; and he said, I have a word for thee, O captain. And Jehu said, For whom of all of us? And he said, For thee, O captain.
When he arrived, he saw that the commanders of the army were having a conference. He [looked at Jehu and] said, “Sir, I have a message for [one of] you.” Jehu replied, “Which one of us is the message for?” The young prophet replied, “It is for you, commander/sir.”
6 And he arose, and went into the house: and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, I anoint thee as king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.
So Jehu got up and went with the young prophet into a house. There the young prophet poured some [olive] oil on Jehu’s head and said to him, “Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], declares this: ‘I am appointing you to be the king of my Israeli people.
7 And thou shalt smite the house of Achab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Izebel.
You must kill your master [King Joram], the son of Ahab, because I want to punish [Ahab’s wife] Jezebel for murdering [MTY] many of my prophets and other people who served me.
8 And the whole house of Achab shall perish: and I will cut off from Achab every male, and the guarded and fortified in Israel;
You must kill [not only Joram but] all of Ahab’s family. I want to get rid of every male in the family, including young ones and old ones.
9 And I will make the house of Achab like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'sha the son of Achiyah;
I will get rid of Ahab’s family, like I got rid of the families of two other kings of Israel, Jeroboam and Baasha.
10 And Izebel shall the dogs eat in the field of Yizre'el, with none to bury her. And he [then] opened the door, and fled.
And [when] Jezebel [dies], her corpse will not be buried. Dogs will eat her corpse there in Jezreel [city].’” After the young prophet said this, he left the room and ran.
11 But Jehu came forth to the servants of his Lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this madman to thee? And he said unto them, Ye yourselves know the man, and his talk.
When Jehu came out of the room to where his other commanders were, they said to him, “Is everything all right? Why did that mad fellow come to you?” He replied, “You know what kinds of things young prophets like him say.”
12 And they said, It is false: only tell us, we pray thee. And he said, So and so did he speak to me, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, I anoint thee as king over Israel.
They said, “You are lying! Tell us what he said!” He replied, “He told me that Yahweh said, ‘I am appointing [MTY] you to be the king of Israel.’”
13 Then they hastened, and they took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs; and they blew the cornet, saying, Jehu is king.
Then they all spread their cloaks on the steps of the building [for Jehu to walk out on], and they blew trumpets and shouted, “Jehu is now the king!”
14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept guard at Ramoth-gil'ad, he and all Israel, because of Chazael the king of Syria.
King Joram and his army had been defending Ramoth against the attacks by the army of the king of Syria. King Joram had returned to Jezreel [city], to recover from being wounded in the battle against the army of Hazael, the king of Syria. And Jehu made plans to kill Joram. He said to his other commanders, “If helping me is truly what you want, make sure that no one leaves this city to go to warn the people of Jezreel [about what I am planning to do].”
15 But king Jehoram was returned to be healed in Yizre'el of the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him, when he was fighting with Chazael the king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this be your mind, then let none that escapeth go forth out of the city to go to tell it in Yizre'el.
16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Yizre'el; for Joram was lying there. And Achazyah the king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
Then Jehu and his officers got into their chariots and rode to Jezreel, where Joram was still recovering. And King Ahaziah of Judah was there, visiting Joram.
17 And the watchman stood on the tower in Yizre'el, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came; and he said, A company do I see, And Jehoram said, Take a horseman, and send out to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
A guard was standing in the watchtower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu and his men approaching. He called out, “I see a lot of men [who are approaching]!” King Joram [heard what the watchman said, so he] said to his soldiers, “Send someone on a horse to go and find out if they are coming to be friendly to us or to attack us.”
18 So there went one riding on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus hath said the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee about behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came up to them, but he hath not returned.
So a man rode out to meet Jehu and said to him, “The king wants to know [if you are coming to be] friendly to us.” Jehu replied, “This is not the time for you [RHQ] to be concerned about acting friendly! Turn around and come behind me!” So the guard in the watchtower reported that the messenger had reached the group [that was approaching], but that he was not returning [alone].
19 Then sent he out a second rider on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus hath said the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee about behind me.
So King Joram sent another messenger, who asked Jehu the same question. Again Jehu replied, “This is not the time [RHQ] for you to be concerned about acting friendly! Turn around and follow me!”
20 And the watchman told, saying, He came up to them, but he hath not returned: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth as though he were mad.
Then the watchman reported again, “That messenger also reached them, but he is not coming back [alone]. And [the leader of the group must be] Jehu, the son of Nimshi, because he is driving [his chariot] furiously, [like Jehu does]!”
21 And Jehoram said, Harness up. And his chariot was harnessed up. And Jehoram the king of Israel and Achazyahu the king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of land of Naboth the Yizre'elite.
Joram said [to his soldiers], “Get [my chariot] ready!” So they did that. Then King Joram and King Ahaziah both rode toward Jehu, each one in his own chariot. And [it happened that] they met Jehu at the field that had previously belonged to Naboth!
22 And it came to pass, when Jehoram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace can there be with the acts of incest of thy mother Izebel and her many witchcrafts?
When Joram met Jehu, he said to him, “Are you coming on a peaceful visit?” Jehu replied, “(How can there be peace while you and your people are prostrating themselves to worship idols and practicing very much (witchcraft/sorcery) like your mother Jezebel did?/There certainly cannot be peace while you and your people are prostrating themselves to worship idols and practicing (witchcraft/sorcery) like your mother Jezebel has been doing!)” [RHQ]
23 And Jehoram turned about, and fled, and said to Achazyahu, Treachery, Achazyahu.
Joram cried out, “Ahaziah, they have deceived us! [They want to kill us]!” So Joram turned his chariot around and tried to flee.
24 And Jehu grasped the bow with his full strength, and struck Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
But Jehu drew his bow mightily and shot [an arrow that pierced] Joram between his shoulder blades. The arrow [went through his body and] pierced his heart, and he slumped down dead in his chariot.
25 Then said he to Bidkar his officer, Lift up, [and] cast him down in the part of the field that was Naboth's the Yizre'elite; for remember how that I and thou rode alongside each other after Achab his father, when the Lord pronounced over him this fatal decree:
Then Jehu said to his assistant Bidkar, “Take his corpse and throw it here into the field that belonged to Naboth. [I am sure that] you remember that when you and I were riding together [in chariots] behind King Joram’s father Ahab, that Yahweh said this about Ahab:
26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will repay thee in this part of the field, saith the Lord. And now lift up, [and] cast him down into the field, according to the word of the Lord.
‘Yesterday I saw Ahab murder [MTY] Naboth and his sons here. And I solemnly promise that I will punish him right here in this same field!’ So take Joram’s corpse and throw it into that field! That will fulfill what Yahweh said would happen.”
27 And when Achazyahu the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house; but Jehu pursued after him, and said, Also him smite in the chariot. [And they did so] on the ascent to Gur, which is by Yible'am. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
When King Ahaziah saw what happened, he fled [in his chariot] toward Beth-Haggan [town]. But Jehu pursued him and said [to his other commanders], “Shoot him, also!” So they shot him [with arrows] while he was riding in his chariot on the road up to Gur, near Ibleam [town]. He continued going in his chariot until he reached Megiddo [city], where he died.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
His officials took his corpse back to Jerusalem and buried it in the tombs in the [part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, where his ancestors had been buried.
29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Achab became Achazyah king over Judah.
Ahaziah had become the king of Judah when Joram had been ruling Israel for almost eleven years.
30 And Jehu came to Yizre'el; and when Izebel heard of it, she painted her eyes, and ornamented her head, and looked out at the window.
Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When [Ahab’s widow] Jezebel heard what had happened, she put paint/makeup on her eyelids, and combed her hair to make it beautiful, and looked out the window [of the palace toward the street below].
31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, O Zimri, who hath slain his master?
While Jehu was entering the city gate, she called out to him, “You [are like] Zimri! You are a murderer! [I think] you are certainly not [RHQ] coming on a peaceful visit!”
32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three chamberlains.
Jehu looked up toward the window, and then he said, “Who is (on my side/wants to help me)? Anyone?” Two or three palace officials looked down at him [from a window and pointed to themselves].
33 And he said, Pitch her down. So they pitched her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trod her under foot.
Jehu said to them, “Throw her down here!” So they threw her down, and [when she hit the ground and died], some of her blood splattered on the city wall and on the horses [that were pulling the chariots].
34 And he came in, and ate and drank; and then said he, Look, I pray you, after this accursed one, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.
Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Then he said [to some of his men], “Take the corpse of that women whom Yahweh has cursed and bury it, because she is a king’s daughter [and therefore should be buried properly].”
35 And they went to bury her: but they found nothing of her but the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands.
But when they went to get her corpse to bury it, all that was left was only her skull and [the bones of] her feet and her hands. Everything else was gone.
36 And they returned, and told him; and he said, It is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by means of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the field of Yizre'el shall the dogs eat the flesh of Izebel:
When they reported this to Jehu, he said, “That is what Yahweh said would happen! He told his servant/prophet Elijah, ‘In [the city of] Jezreel, dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel’s corpse.
37 And the carcass of Izebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Yizre'el; so that they shall not say, This is Izebel.
Her bones will be scattered there in Jezreel like dung, with the result that no one will be able to [recognize them and] say, “These are Jezebel’s bones.”’”
