2 Kings 9–10

Chapter 9

¹And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead. ²And when thou art come thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him rise up from among his brethren, and bring him to an inner chamber; ³then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head and say, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel; and open the door, and flee, and tarry not. ⁴And the young man, the young 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, captain. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To thee, captain. ⁶And he rose up and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, over Israel. ⁷And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master; and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸And the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel. ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and as the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the plot of Jizreel, and none shall bury her. And he opened the door and fled.

¹¹And Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord. And one said to him, Is all well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them, Ye know the man, and his mind. ¹²And they said, It is false! tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spoke he to me saying, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel. ¹³Then they hasted and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the very stairs, and blew with trumpets, and said, Jehu is king! ¹⁴And Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram kept Ramoth-Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; ¹⁵and king Joram had returned to be healed in Jizreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your will, let not a fugitive escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jizreel.

¹⁶And Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jizreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. ¹⁷And the watchman stood on the tower in Jizreel, and saw Jehu’s company 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 he 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, and he does not return. ¹⁹And he sent out a second on horseback; and he came to them and said, Thus saith the king: Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. ²⁰And the watchman told saying, He came to them, and does not return. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously. ²¹Then Joram said, Make ready! And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the plot of Naboth the Jizreelite. ²²And it came to pass when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace, so long as the fornications of thy mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many? ²³Then Joram turned his hand, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, Treachery, Ahaziah! ²⁴And Jehu took his bow in his hand, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out through his heart; and he sank down in his chariot. ²⁵And he said to Bidkar his captain, Take him up and cast him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jizreelite. For remember how, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, that Jehovah laid this burden upon him: ²⁶Certainly I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith Jehovah; and I will requite thee in this plot, saith Jehovah. And now, take and cast him into the plot, according to the word of Jehovah. ²⁷When Ahaziah king of Judah saw that, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in his chariot. It was on the ascent of Gur, which is by Jibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. ²⁹(And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab had Ahaziah begun to reign over Judah.)

³⁰And Jehu came to Jizreel; and Jezebel heard of it, and she put paint to her eyes, and decked her head, and looked out at the window. ³¹And when Jehu came in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master? ³²And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And two or three chamberlains looked out to him. ³³And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trampled on her. ³⁴And he came in, and ate and drank; and he said, Go, look, I pray you, after this cursed woman, and bury her; for she 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 the hands. ³⁶And they came back and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying, In the plot of Jizreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the open field in the plot of Jizreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

Chapter 10

¹Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jizreel, to the elders, and to Ahab’s guardians, saying, ²And now, when this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots, and horses, and a fortified city, and armour, ³look out the best and worthiest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house. ⁴And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand? ⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, and the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any one king; do what is good in thy sight. ⁶And he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If ye are mine, and will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jizreel to-morrow at this time. Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. ⁷And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel. ⁸And 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 the morning. ⁹And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these? ¹⁰Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah. ¹¹And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. ¹²And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds’ meeting-place on the way, ¹³Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen. ¹⁴And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining.

¹⁵And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. —If it be, give me thy hand. —And he gave him his hand; and Jehu took him up to him into the chariot, ¹⁶and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah. ¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal. ²⁰And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. ²¹And Jehu sent into all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not: and they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other. ²²And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. ²³And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you…