2 Kings 8:25–10:14

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. ²⁶Ahaziah was ^ztwenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel. ^27aAnd he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸Now he went ^bwith Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Syria at ^cRamoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ²⁹Then ^dKing Joram went back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him at ⁶Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. ^eAnd Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

9And Elisha the prophet called one of ^athe sons of the prophets, and said to him, ^b“Get ¹yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, ^cand go to Ramoth Gilead. ²Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among ^dhis associates, and take him to an inner room. ³Then ^etake the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and flee, and do not delay.”

⁴So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.”

Jehu said, “For which one of us?”

And he said, “For you, Commander.” ⁶Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, ^f“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may ^gavenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^hat the hand of Jezebel. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and ⁱI will cut off from Ahab all ^jthe males in Israel, both ^kbond and free. ⁹So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of ^lJeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of ^mBaasha the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰ⁿThe dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ ” And he opened the door and fled.

¹¹Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did ^othis madman come to you?”

And he said to them, “You know the man and his babble.”

¹²And they said, “A lie! Tell us now.”

So he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”

¹³Then each man hastened ^pto take his garment and put it ²under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king!”

Joram of Israel Killed

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against ^qJoram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. ¹⁵But ^rKing ³Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, “If you are so minded, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.” ¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was laid up there; ^sand Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

¹⁷Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company of men.”

And Joram said, “Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, ⁴‘Is it peace?’ ”

¹⁸So the horseman went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”

And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? ⁵Turn around and follow me.”

So the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger went to them, but is not coming back.”

¹⁹Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”

And Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.”

²⁰So the watchman reported, saying, “He went up to them and is not coming back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!”

²¹Then Joram said, ⁶“Make ready.” And his chariot was made ready. Then ^tJoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and ⁷met him ^uon the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”

So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”

²³Then Joram turned around and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” ²⁴Now Jehu ⁸drew his bow with full strength and shot Jehoram between his arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. ²⁵Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him into the tract of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I were riding together behind Ahab his father, that ^vthe Lord laid this ^wburden upon him: ²⁶‘Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the Lord, ^x‘and I will repay you ⁹in this plot,’ says the Lord. Now therefore, take and throw him on the plot of ground, according to the word of the Lord.”

Ahaziah of Judah Killed

²⁷But when Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled by the road to ¹Beth Haggan. So Jehu pursued him, and said, ²“Shoot him also in the chariot.” And they shot him at the Ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to ^yMegiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants carried him in the chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the City of David. ²⁹In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

Jezebel’s Violent Death

³⁰Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; ^zand she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. ³¹Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, ^a“Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?”

³²And he looked up at the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. ³⁴And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for ^bshe was a king’s daughter.” ³⁵So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. ³⁶Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ^c‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷and the corpse of Jezebel shall be ^das refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “Here lies Jezebel.” ’ ”

Ahab’s Seventy Sons Killed

10Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of ¹Jezreel, to the elders, and to ²those who reared Ahab’s sons, saying:

²Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and weapons, ³choose the ³best qualified of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.

⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Look, ^atwo kings could not ⁴stand up to him; how then can we stand?” ⁵And he who was in charge of the house, and he who was in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, we will do all you tell us; but we will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your sight.” ⁶Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying:

If you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.

Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. ⁷So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and ^bslaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

⁸Then 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 morning.”

⁹So it was, in the morning, that he went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Indeed ^cI conspired against my master and killed him; but who killed all these? ¹⁰Know now that nothing shall ^dfall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord has done what He spoke ^eby His servant Elijah.” ¹¹So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Ahaziah’s Forty-Two Brothers Killed

¹²And he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way, at ⁵Beth Eked of the Shepherds, ^13fJehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?”

So they answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah; we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.”

¹⁴And he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them alive, and ^gkilled them at the well of ⁶Beth Eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.