2 Kings 9–10

JEHU ANOINTED AS ISRAEL’S KING

9The prophet Elisha called one of the sons of the prophets^ae and said, “Tuck your mantle^af under your belt, take this flask of oil^ag with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.^{ah 2}When you get there, look for Jehu^ai son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his colleagues, and take him to an inner room. ³Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I anoint you king over Israel.” ’^aj Open the door and escape. Don’t wait.” ⁴So the young prophet^A went to Ramoth-gilead.

⁵When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there, so he said, “I have a message for you, commander.”

Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”

He answered, “For you, commander.”

⁶So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. ⁷You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel—the blood of my servants the prophets and of all the servants of the Lord.^{a 8}The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will wipe out all of Ahab’s males,^B both slave and free,^C in Israel.^{b 9}I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.^{c 10}The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel—no one will bury her.’ ”^d Then the young prophet opened the door and escaped.

¹¹When Jehu came out to his master’s servants, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this crazy person^e come to you?”

Then he said to them, “You know the sort and their ranting.”

¹²But they replied, “That’s a lie! Tell us!”

So Jehu said, “He talked to me about this and that and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ ”

¹³Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps.^Df They blew the trumpet^g and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”^h

¹⁴Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.ⁱ Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against King Hazael of Aram. ¹⁵But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king,^E then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”

JEHU KILLS JORAM AND AHAZIAH

¹⁶Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and King Ahaziah of Judah had gone down to visit Joram. ¹⁷Now the watchman^j was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s mob approaching and shouted, “I see a mob!”

Joram responded, “Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’ ”^k

¹⁸So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’ ”

Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them but hasn’t started back.”

¹⁹So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’ ”

Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

²⁰Again the watchman reported, “He reached them but hasn’t started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi^l—he drives like a madman.”

²¹“Get the chariot ready!” Joram shouted, and they got it ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.^{m 22}When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?”

He answered, “What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and sorcery from your mother Jezebel?”ⁿ

²³Joram turned around and fled, shouting to Ahaziah, “It’s treachery,^o Ahaziah!”

²⁴Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.^{p 25}Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite.^q For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this pronouncement against him: ²⁶‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘so will I repay you on this plot of land’—this is the Lord’s declaration. So now, according to the word of the Lord, pick him up and throw him on the plot of land.”^r

²⁷When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot him in his chariot^A at Gur Pass near Ibleam,^s but he fled to Megiddo^t and died there.^{u 28}Then his servants carried him to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in his ancestors’ tomb in the city of David.^{v 29}It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.^w

JEHU KILLS JEZEBEL

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes,^a fixed her hair,^B and looked down from the window. ³¹As Jehu entered the city gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri,^b killer of your master?”

³²He looked up toward the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs^c looked down at him, ³³and he said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and Jehu rode over her.^d

³⁴Then he went in, ate and drank, and said, “Take care of this cursed^e woman and bury her, since she’s a king’s daughter.”^{f 35}But when they went out to bury her, they did not find anything but the skull, the feet, and the hands. ³⁶So they went back and told him, and he said, “This fulfills the Lord’s word that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel’s flesh.^{g 37}Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure^h on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel so that no one will be able to say: This is Jezebel.’ ”

JEHU KILLS THE HOUSE OF AHAB

10Since Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria,ⁱ Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the rulers of Jezreel,^j to the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab’s sons,^A saying:

²Your master’s sons are with you, and you have chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weaponry, so when this letter^k arrives ³select the most qualified^B of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.

⁴However, they were terrified and reasoned, “Look, two kings^l couldn’t stand against him; how can we?”

⁵So the overseer of the palace, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever you think is right.”^Cm

⁶Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying:

If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, bring me the heads of your master’s sons^D at this time tomorrow at Jezreel.

All seventy of the king’s sons were being cared for by the city’s prominent men. ⁷When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. ⁸When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” the king said, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”

⁹The next morning when he went out and stood at the gate, he said to all the people, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him.ⁿ But who struck down all these? ¹⁰Know, then, that not a word the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab will fail,^o for the Lord has done what he promised through his servant Elijah.”^{p 11}So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel—all his great men, close friends, and priests—leaving him no survivors.

¹²Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, while he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, ¹³Jehu met the relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”

They answered, “We’re Ahaziah’s^q relatives. We’ve come down to greet the king’s sons and the queen mother’s^r sons.”

¹⁴Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and then slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked—forty-two men. He didn’t spare any of them.^s

¹⁵When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab^t coming to meet him. He greeted him and then asked, “Is your heart one with mine?”^E

“It is,” Jehonadab replied.

Jehu said, “If it is,^F give me your hand.”^u

So he gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot with him. ¹⁶Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal^v for the Lord!” So he let him ride with him in his chariot. ¹⁷When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained from the house of Ahab in Samaria until he had annihilated his house, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.^w

JEHU KILLS THE BAAL WORSHIPERS

¹⁸Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal^x a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. ¹⁹Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests.^a None must be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” However, Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal. ²⁰Jehu commanded, “Consecrate a solemn assembly^b for Baal.” So they called one.

²¹Then Jehu sent messengers throughout all Israel, and all the servants of Baal^A came; no one failed to come.^c They entered the temple of Baal,^d and it was filled from one end to the other. ²²Then he said to the custodian of the wardrobe, “Bring out the garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out their garments.

²³Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look carefully to see that there are no servants of the Lord here among you—only…