2 Kings 9–10

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 began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

³⁰And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she ^kpainted her face, and tired her head, and ^llooked out at a window. ³¹And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had ^mZimri peace, who slew his master? ³²And he lift up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. ³³And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. ³⁴And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for ⁿshe is a king’s daughter. ³⁵And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. ³⁶Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ^oIn the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: ³⁷and the carcase of Jezebel shall be ^pas dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

X.And Ahab had seventy sons in ^aSamaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s children, saying, ²Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour; ³look even out the best and meetest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house. ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand? ⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, ^bWe are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes. ⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up. ⁷And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in ^cbaskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. ⁸And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. ⁹And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, ^dI conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these? ¹⁰Know now that there shall ^efall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath done that which he spake ^fby his servant Elijah. ¹¹So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his ^gpriests, until ^hhe left him none remaining.

¹²And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way, ¹³Jehu met with the ⁱbrethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the ^kqueen. ¹⁴And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them. ¹⁵And when he was departed thence, he lighted on ^lJehonadab the son of ^mRechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, ⁿgive me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. ¹⁶And he said, Come with me, and see ^omy zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷And when he came to Samaria, he slew ^pall that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, ^qwhich he spake to Elijah.

¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, ^rAhab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much. ¹⁹Now therefore call unto me all the ^sprophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. ²⁰And Jehu said, Proclaim a ^tsolemn assembly for Baal. And they ^uproclaimed it. ²¹And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the ^xhouse of…