2 Kings 9:1–11:21
9 And Elisha the prophet called one of athe sons of the prophets, and said to him, b“Get 1yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, cand go to Ramoth Gilead. 2 Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among dhis associates, and take him to an inner room. 3 Then etake the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and flee, and do not delay.”
4 So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. 5 And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.”
Jehu said, “For which one of us?”
And he said, “For you, Commander.” 6 Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, f“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. 7 You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may gavenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, hat the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and iI will cut off from Ahab all jthe males in Israel, both kbond and free. 9 So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of lJeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of mBaasha the son of Ahijah. 10 nThe dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ ” And he opened the door and fled.
11 Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did othis madman come to you?”
And he said to them, “You know the man and his babble.”
12 And they said, “A lie! Tell us now.”
So he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”
13 Then each man hastened pto take his garment and put it 2under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king!”
14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against qJoram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. 15 But rKing 3Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, “If you are so minded, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.” 16 So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was laid up there; sand Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
17 Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company of men.”
And Joram said, “Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, 4‘Is it peace?’ ”
18 So the horseman went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”
And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? 5Turn around and follow me.”
So the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger went to them, but is not coming back.”
19 Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”
And Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.”
20 So the watchman reported, saying, “He went up to them and is not coming back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!”
21 Then Joram said, 6“Make ready.” And his chariot was made ready. Then tJoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and 7met him uon the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”
23 Then Joram turned around and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” 24 Now Jehu 8drew his bow with full strength and shot Jehoram between his arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him into the tract of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I were riding together behind Ahab his father, that vthe Lord laid this wburden upon him: 26 ‘Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the Lord, x‘and I will repay you 9in this plot,’ says the Lord. Now therefore, take and throw him on the plot of ground, according to the word of the Lord.”
27 But when Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled by the road to 1Beth Haggan. So Jehu pursued him, and said, 2“Shoot him also in the chariot.” And they shot him at the Ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to yMegiddo, and died there. 28 And his servants carried him in the chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the City of David. 29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.
30 Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; zand she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. 31 Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, a“Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?”
32 And he looked up at the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33 Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. 34 And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for bshe was a king’s daughter.” 35 So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, c‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and the corpse of Jezebel shall be das refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “Here lies Jezebel.” ’ ”
10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of 1Jezreel, to the elders, and to 2those who reared Ahab’s sons, saying:
2 Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and weapons, 3 choose the 3best qualified of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.
4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Look, atwo kings could not 4stand up to him; how then can we stand?” 5 And he who was in charge of the house, and he who was in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, we will do all you tell us; but we will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your sight.” 6 Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying:
If you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.
Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. 7 So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and bslaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
8 Then a messenger came and told him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”
And he said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”
9 So it was, in the morning, that he went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Indeed cI conspired against my master and killed him; but who killed all these? 10 Know now that nothing shall dfall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord has done what He spoke eby His servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
Ahaziah’s Forty-Two Brothers Killed
12 And he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way, at 5Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 fJehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?”
So they answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah; we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.”
14 And he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them alive, and gkilled them at the well of 6Beth Eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.
The Rest of Ahab’s Family Killed
15 Now when he departed from there, he 7met hJehonadab the son of iRechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?”
And Jehonadab answered, “It is.”
Jehu said, “If it is, jgive me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. 16 Then he said, “Come with me, and see my kzeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. 17 And when he came to Samaria, lhe killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord mwhich He spoke to Elijah.
18 Then Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, n“Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now therefore, call to me all the oprophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu acted deceptively, with the intent of destroying the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, 8“Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 Then Jehu sent throughout all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not …