2 Kings 8–10

Then spake Elisha unto the woman, ^awhose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord ^bhath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. ²And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. ³And it came to pass at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. ⁴And the king talked with ^cGehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. ⁵And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had ^drestored a dead body to life, that behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. ⁶And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

⁷And Elisha came to ^eDamascus; and ^fBen-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come hither. ⁸And the king said unto ^gHazael, Take ^ha present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and ⁱinquire of the Lord by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? ⁹So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ burden, and came and stood before him, and said, ^kThy son Ben-hadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease? ¹⁰And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover: howbeit the Lord hath shewed me that ^lhe shall surely die. ¹¹And he settled his countenance stedfastly, ^muntil he was ashamed: and the man of God wept. ¹²And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know ⁿthe evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and ^owilt dash their children, and ^prip up their women with child. ¹³And Hazael said, But what, ^qis thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, ^rThe Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king over Syria. ¹⁴So he departed from Elisha, and came to his master; who said to him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, He told me that ^sthou shouldest surely recover. ¹⁵And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipt it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.

¹⁶And in the fifth year of ^tJoram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, ^uJehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. ^17xThirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for ^ythe daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁹Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, ^zas he promised him to give to him alway a light, ^aand to his children. ²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and ^bmade a king over themselves. ²¹So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled ^cinto their tents. ²²Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then ^dLibnah revolted at the same time. ²³And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers ^ein the city of David: and ^fAhaziah his son reigned in his stead.

²⁵In the ^gtwelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. ^26hTwo and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for he was ⁱthe son in law of the house of Ahab. ²⁸And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against ^kHazael king of Syria in ^lRamoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹And ^mking Joram went back to be healed in ⁿJezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. ^oAnd Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

IX.And Elisha the prophet called one of ^athe children of the prophets, and said unto him, ^bGird up thy loins, and take this ^cbox of oil in thine hand, and go to ^dRamoth-gilead: ²and when thou comest thither, look out there ^eJehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among ^fhis brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber: ³then take the ^cbox of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. ⁴So the young man, even the young man ^athe prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. ⁶And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. ⁷And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^gat the hand of Jezebel. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and ^hI will cut off from Ahab ⁱhim that pisseth against the wall, and ^khim that is shut up and left in Israel: ⁹and 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: ¹⁰ⁿand the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of ^oJezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

¹¹Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, ^pIs all well? wherefore came ^qthis mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his ^rcommunication. ¹²And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. ¹³Then they hasted, and ^stook every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and ^tblew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. ¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (^uNow Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of ^xHazael king of Syria. ¹⁵But ^yking Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in ^oJezreel. ¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. ^yAnd Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. ¹⁷And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? ¹⁸So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. ¹⁹Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. ²⁰And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is ^zlike the driving of Jehu ^athe son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. ²¹And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And ^bJoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him ^cin the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the ^dwhoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her ^dwitchcrafts are so many? ²³And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. ²⁴And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. ²⁵Then said Jehu to Bidkar his ^ecaptain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode ^ftogether after Ahab his father, ^gthe Lord laid this ^hburden upon him; ²⁶surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and ^gI will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.

²⁷But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. ⁱAnd they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by ⁱIbleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants ^jcarried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. ²⁹And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab …