2 Kings 9

Chapter 9

¹Now Elisha the prophet called one of ^athe sons of the prophets and said to him, “^bGird up your loins, and ^ctake this flask of oil in your hand and go to ^dRamoth-gilead.

²“When you arrive there, ¹search out ^aJehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and ^2bbid him arise from among his brothers, and bring him to an inner room.

³“Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^aI have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and flee and do not wait.”

⁴So ^athe young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.

⁵When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said, “I have a word for you, O captain.” And Jehu said, “¹For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, O captain.”

⁶He arose and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘^aI have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel.

⁷‘You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, ^athat I may avenge ^bthe blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^cat the hand of Jezebel.

⁸‘For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and ^aI will cut off from Ahab ^bevery male person ^cboth bond and free in Israel.

⁹‘^aI will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and ^blike the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.

¹⁰‘^aThe dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.’ ” Then he opened the door and fled.

¹¹Now Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “^aIs all well? Why did this ^bmad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know very well the man and his talk.”

¹²They said, “It is a lie, tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he said to me, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”

¹³Then ^athey hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and ^bblew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”

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.” ’ ”