2 Kings 9:14–10:25

Jehoram (Joram) Is Assassinated

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. ^aNow Joram ¹with all Israel was ²defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram,

¹⁵but ^aKing ¹Joram had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had ²inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said, “If this is your mind, then let no one escape or ³leave the city to go tell it in Jezreel.”

¹⁶Then Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there. ^aAhaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

¹⁷Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the ¹company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ”

¹⁸So a horseman went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu said, “^aWhat have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.” And the watchman ¹reported, “The messenger came to them, but he did not return.”

¹⁹Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu ¹answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.”

²⁰The watchman ¹reported, “He came even to them, and he did not return; and ^athe driving is like the driving of ^bJehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹Then ¹Joram said, “²Get ready.” And they made his chariot ready. ^aJoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him in the ^3bproperty of Naboth the Jezreelite.

²²When ¹Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he ²answered, “What peace, ^aso long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?”

²³So ¹Joram ²reined about and fled and said to Ahaziah, “^aThere is treachery, O Ahaziah!”

²⁴And ^aJehu ¹drew his bow with his full strength and ²shot ³Joram between his arms; and the arrow went ⁴through his heart and he sank in his chariot.

²⁵Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Take him up and ^acast him into the ¹property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for I remember when ²you and I were riding together after Ahab his father, that the ^bLord laid this ^coracle against him:

²⁶‘Surely ^aI have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the Lord, ‘and ^bI will repay you in this ¹property,’ says the Lord. Now then, take and cast him into the property, according to the word of the Lord.”

Jehu Assassinates Ahaziah

^27aWhen Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him and said, “¹Shoot him too, in the chariot.” So they shot him at the ascent of Gur, which is at ^bIbleam. But he fled to Megiddo and died there.

^28aThen his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his grave with his fathers in the city of David.

²⁹Now in ^athe eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and ^ashe painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window.

³¹As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “^aIs it ¹well, Zimri, ²your master’s murderer?”

³²Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three officials looked down at him.

Jezebel Is Slain

³³He 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 trampled her under foot.

³⁴When he came in, he ate and drank; and he said, “See now to ^athis cursed woman and bury her, for ^bshe is a king’s daughter.”

³⁵They went to bury her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.

³⁶Therefore they returned and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘^aIn the ¹property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel;

³⁷and ^athe corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the ¹property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ”

Chapter 10

Judgment upon Ahab’s House

¹Now Ahab had seventy sons in ^aSamaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying,

²“Now, ^awhen this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, ¹as well as the chariots and horses and a fortified city and the weapons,

³select the best and ¹fittest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”

⁴But they feared greatly and said, “Behold, ^athe two kings did not stand before him; how then can we stand?”

⁵And the one who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders, and the guardians of the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, “^aWe are your servants, all that you say to us we will do, we will not make any man king; do what is good in your sight.”

⁶Then he wrote a letter to them a second time saying, “If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

⁷When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and ^aslaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel.

⁸When the messenger came and told him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

⁹Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are ¹innocent; behold, ^aI conspired against my master and killed him, but ^bwho ²killed all these?

¹⁰“Know then that ^athere shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done ^bwhat He spoke ¹through His servant Elijah.”

¹¹So Jehu ¹killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in ^aJezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.

¹²Then he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way while he was at ¹Beth-eked of the shepherds,

^13aJehu ¹met the ²relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, “Who are you?” And they ³answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we have come down ⁴to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.”

¹⁴He said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and killed them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.

¹⁵Now when he had departed from there, he ¹met ^aJehonadab the son of ^bRechab coming to meet him; and he ²greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab ³answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, ^cgive me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

¹⁶He said, “Come with me and ^asee my zeal for the Lord.” So ¹he made him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷When he came to Samaria, ^ahe ¹killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, ^baccording to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.

Jehu Destroys Baal Worshipers

¹⁸Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “^aAhab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.

¹⁹“Now, ^asummon all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers 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 did it in ¹cunning, so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal.

²⁰And Jehu said, “^aSanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” And ^bthey proclaimed it.

²¹Then Jehu sent ¹throughout Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And when they went into ^athe house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.

²²He said to the one who was ¹in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them.

²³Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search and see that there is here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but only the worshipers of Baal.”

²⁴Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “^aThe one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape ¹shall give up his life in exchange.”

²⁵Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the ^1aguard and to the royal officers, “^bGo in, ²kill them; let none come out.” And they ³killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw them out, and went to the ⁴inner room of the house of Baal.