2 Kings 8–10

The Shunammite Regains Her Land

8Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had brought back to life. He said, “Get up and go with your family. Stay any place you can, because the Lord has called for a time without food that will last seven years.” ²So the woman got up and did as the man of God had said. She left with her family, and they stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. ³After seven years she returned from the land of the Philistines and went to beg the king for her house and land. ⁴The king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. The king had said, “Please tell me all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead boy back to life. Just then the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came and begged the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “My master and king, this is the woman, and this is the son Elisha brought back to life.”

⁶The king asked the woman, and she told him about it. Then the king chose an officer to help her. “Give the woman everything that is hers,” the king said. “Give her all the money made from her land from the day she left until now.”

Ben-Hadad Is Killed

⁷Then Elisha went to Damascus, where Ben-Hadad king of Aram was sick. Someone told him, “The man of God has arrived.”

⁸The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go meet him. Ask the Lord through him if I will recover from my sickness.”

⁹So Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him a gift of forty camels loaded with every good thing in Damascus. He came and stood before Elisha and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram sent me to you. He asks if he will recover from his sickness.”

¹⁰Elisha said to Hazael, “Go and tell Ben-Hadad, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the Lord has told me he will really die.” ¹¹Hazael stared at Elisha until he felt ashamed. Then Elisha cried.

¹²Hazael asked, “Why are you crying, master?”

Elisha answered, “Because I know what evil you will do to the Israelites. You will burn their strong, walled cities with fire and kill their young men with swords. You will throw their babies to the ground and split open their pregnant women.”

¹³Hazael said, “Am I a dog? How could I do such things?”

Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

¹⁴Then Hazael left Elisha and came to his master. Ben-Hadad said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

Hazael answered, “He told me that you will surely recover.” ¹⁵But the next day Hazael took a blanket and dipped it in water. Then he put it over Ben-Hadad’s face, and he died. So Hazael became king in Ben-Hadad’s place.

Jehoram King of Judah

¹⁶While Jehoshaphat was king in Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. This was during the fifth year Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel. ¹⁷Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he began to rule, and he ruled eight years in Jerusalem. ¹⁸He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the family of Ahab had done, because he married Ahab’s daughter. Jehoram did what the Lord said was wrong. ¹⁹But the Lord would not destroy Judah because of his servant David. The Lord had promised that one of David’s descendants would always rule.

²⁰In Jehoram’s time Edom broke away from Judah’s rule and chose their own king. ²¹So Jehoram and all his chariots went to Zair. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders. Jehoram got up and attacked the Edomites at night, but his army ran away to their tents. ²²From then until now the country of Edom has fought against the rule of Judah. At the same time Libnah also broke away from Judah’s rule.

²³The other acts of Jehoram and all the things he did are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ²⁴Jehoram died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, and Jehoram’s son Ahaziah ruled in his place.

²⁵Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah during the twelfth year Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel. ²⁶Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷Ahaziah followed the ways of Ahab’s family. He did what the Lord said was wrong, as Ahab’s family had done, because he was a son-in-law to Ahab.

²⁸Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to Ramoth in Gilead, where they fought against Hazael king of Aram. The Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹So King Joram returned to Jezreel to heal from the wound he had received from the Arameans at Ramoth when he fought Hazael king of Aram. Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he had been wounded.

Jehu Is Chosen King

9At the same time, Elisha the prophet called a man from the groups of prophets. Elisha said, “Get ready, and take this small bottle of olive oil in your hand. Go to Ramoth in Gilead. ²When you arrive, find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in and make Jehu get up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room. ³Then take the bottle and pour the oil on Jehu’s head and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have appointed you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run away. Don’t wait!”

⁴So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth in Gilead. ⁵When he arrived, he saw the officers of the army sitting together. He said, “Commander, I have a message for you.”

Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”

The young man said, “For you, commander.”

⁶Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the olive oil on Jehu’s head and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I have appointed you king over the Lord’s people Israel. ⁷You must destroy the family of Ahab your master. I will punish Jezebel for the deaths of my servants the prophets and for all the Lord’s servants who were murdered. ⁸All of Ahab’s family must die. I will not let any male child in Ahab’s family live in Israel, whether slave or free. ⁹I will make Ahab’s family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of Baasha son of Ahijah. ¹⁰The dogs will eat Jezebel at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’ ”

Then the young prophet opened the door and ran away.

¹¹When Jehu went back to his master’s officers, one of them said to Jehu, “Is everything all right? Why did this crazy man come to you?”

Jehu answered, “You know the man and how he talks.”

¹²They answered, “That’s not true. Tell us.”

Jehu said, “He said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have appointed you to be king over Israel.’ ”

¹³Then the officers hurried, and each man took off his own coat and put it on the stairs for Jehu. They blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”

Joram and Ahaziah Are Killed

¹⁴So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, made plans against Joram. Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth in Gilead from Hazael king of Aram. ¹⁵But King Joram had to return to Jezreel to heal from the injuries the Arameans had given him when he fought against Hazael king of Aram.

Jehu said, “If you agree with this, don’t let anyone leave the city. They might tell the news in Jezreel.” ¹⁶Then he got into his chariot and set out for Jezreel, where Joram was resting. Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.

¹⁷The lookout was standing on the watchtower in Jezreel when he saw Jehu’s troops coming. He said, “I see some soldiers!”

Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them. Tell him to ask, ‘Is all in order?’ ”

¹⁸The horseman rode out to meet Jehu, and he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Is all in order?’ ”

Jehu said, “Why bother yourself with order? Come along behind me.”

The lookout reported, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.”

¹⁹Then Joram sent out a second horseman. This rider came to Jehu’s group and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Is all in order?’ ”

Jehu answered, “Why bother yourself with order? Come along behind me.”

²⁰The lookout reported, “The second man reached them, but he is not coming back. The man in the chariot is driving like Jehu son of Nimshi. He drives as if he were crazy!”

²¹Joram said, “Get my chariot ready.” Then the servant got Joram’s chariot ready. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

²²When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is all in order, Jehu?”

Jehu answered, “There will never be any order as long as your mother Jezebel worships idols and uses witchcraft.”

²³Joram turned the horses to run away and yelled to Ahaziah, “It’s a trick, Ahaziah!”

²⁴Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between his shoulders. The arrow went through Joram’s heart, and he fell down in his chariot.

²⁵Jehu ordered Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick up Joram’s body, and throw it into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember when you and I rode together with Joram’s father Ahab. The Lord made this prophecy against him: ²⁶‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons, says the Lord, so I will punish Ahab in his field, says the Lord.’ Take Joram’s body and throw it into the field, as the Lord has said.”

²⁷When Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he ran away toward Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, saying, “Shoot Ahaziah, too!” Ahaziah was wounded in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam. He got as far as Megiddo but died there. ²⁸Ahaziah’s servants carried his body in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in Jerusalem. ²⁹(Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year Joram son of Ahab was king.)

Death of Jezebel

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on her eye makeup and fixed her hair. Then she looked out the window. ³¹When Jehu entered the city gate, Jezebel said, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, ⁿ you who killed your master?”

³²Jehu looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three servants looked out the window at Jehu. ³³He said to them, “Throw her down.” So they threw Jezebel down, and the horses…