2 Kings 9
1 And Elisha the prophet has called to one of the sons of the prophets and says to him, “Gird up your loins, and take this vial of oil in your hand, 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 and you have gone in there, and see Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, there, and you have gone in, and caused him to rise out of the midst of his brothers, and brought him into the inner part of an inner-chamber,
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 and taken the vial of oil, and poured [it] on his head, and said, Thus said YHWH: I have anointed you for king to Israel; and you have opened the door, and fled, and do not wait.”
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 And the young man goes—the young man the prophet—to Ramoth-Gilead,
So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.
5 and comes in, and behold, chiefs of the force are sitting, and he says, “I have a word for you, O chief!” And Jehu says, “To which of all of us?” And he says, “To you, O chief.”
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 And he rises and comes into the house, and he pours the oil on his head, and says to him, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I have anointed you for king to the people of YHWH, to 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 have struck the house of your lord Ahab, and I have required the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of YHWH, from 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 and all the house of Ahab has perished, and I have cut off from Ahab those sitting on the wall, and restrained, and left, 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 and I have given up the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and as the house of 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 dogs eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there is none burying”; and he opens the door and flees.
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 And Jehu has gone out to the servants of his lord, and [one] says to him, “Is there peace? Why did this madman come to you?” And he says to them, “You have known the man and his talk.”
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 And they say, “False! Declare to us now”; and he says, “He spoke thus and thus to me, saying, Thus said YHWH: I have anointed you for king to 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 And they hurry—each [one]—and take his garment, and put [it] under him at the top of the stairs, and blow with a horn, and say, “Jehu has reigned!”
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 And Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspires against Joram. And Joram was keeping in Ramoth-Gilead, he and all Israel, from the presence of 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 and King Joram turns back to be healed in Jezreel, of the wounds with which the Arameans strike him in his fighting with Hazael king of Aram. And Jehu says, “If it is your mind, do not let an escaped one go out from the city, to go to declare [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 And Jehu rides, and goes to Jezreel, for Joram is lying there, and Ahaziah king of Judah has gone down to see Joram.
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 And the watchman is standing on the tower in Jezreel, and sees the company of Jehu in his coming, and says, “I see a company”; and Joram says, “Take a rider and send [him] to meet them, and let him say, Is there 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 And the rider on the horse goes to meet him and says, “Thus said the king: Is there peace?” And Jehu says, “And what is peace to you? Turn around behind me.” And the watchman declares, saying, “The messenger came to them, and he has not returned.”
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 And he sends a second rider on a horse, and he comes to them and says, “Thus said the king: Is there peace?” And Jehu says, “And what is peace to you? Turn around 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 And the watchman declares, saying, “He came to them, and he has not returned, and the driving [is] like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, for he drives with madness.”
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 And Jehoram says, “Harness”; and his chariot is harnessed, and Jehoram king of Israel goes out, and Ahaziah king of Judah, each in his chariot, and they go out to meet Jehu, and find him in the portion 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 And it comes to pass, at Jehoram’s seeing Jehu, that he says, “Is there peace, Jehu?” And he says, “What [is] the peace, while the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel, and her witchcrafts, are many?”
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 And Jehoram turns his hands and flees, and says to Ahaziah, “Deceit, O Ahaziah!”
Then Joram, turning his horses in flight, said to Ahaziah, Broken faith, O Ahaziah!
24 And Jehu has filled his hand with a bow, and strikes Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow goes out from his heart, and he bows 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] says to his captain Bidkar, “Lift up, cast him into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite—for remember, you and I were riding together after his father Ahab, and YHWH lifted this burden on 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 Have I not seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons last night—a declaration of YHWH—indeed, I have repaid to you in this portion—a declaration of YHWH—and now, lift up, cast him into the portion, according to the word of YHWH.”
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 And Ahaziah king of Judah has seen, and flees the way of the garden-house, and Jehu pursues after him, and says, “Strike him—also him—in the chariot,” in the going up to Gur, that [is] Ibleam, and he flees to Megiddo, and dies 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 and his servants carry him to Jerusalem in a chariot, and bury him in his burying-place with his fathers 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 And in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah reigned over Judah.
(In the eleventh year of the rule of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.)
30 And Jehu comes to Jezreel, and Jezebel has heard, and puts her eyes in paint and beautifies her head, and looks out through the 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 Jehu has come into the gate, and she says, “Was there peace [for] Zimri—slayer of his lord?”
And when Jehu was coming into the town, she said, Is all well, O Zimri, taker of your master's life?
32 And he lifts up his face to the window and says, “Who [is] with me? Who?” And two [or] three eunuchs look out to 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 and he says, “Let her go”; and they let her go, and [some] of her blood is sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses, and he treads her down.
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 And he comes in, and eats, and drinks, and says, “Now look after this cursed one and bury her, for she [is] a king’s daughter.”
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 And they go to bury her, and have not found [anything] of her except the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the 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 And they turn back, and declare [it] to him, and he says, “It [is] the word of YHWH that He spoke by the hand of this servant, Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel the dogs eat 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 the carcass of Jezebel has been as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, that they do not 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.
