2 Kings 9–10

Chapter 9

¹Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ²And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi; and go in and bid him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. ³Then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not tarry.”

⁴So the young man, the prophet,^h went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council; and he said, “I have an errand to you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander.” ⁶So he arose, and went into the house; and the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.” Then he opened the door, and fled.

¹¹When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the fellow and his talk.” ¹²And they said, “That is not true; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and so he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’ ” ¹³Then in haste every man of them took his garment, and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet, and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

¹⁴Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Syria; ¹⁵but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, “If this is your mind, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” ¹⁶Then Jehu mounted his chariot, and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram.

¹⁷Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu 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 a man on horseback went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Turn round and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” ¹⁹Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them, and said, “Thus the king has said, ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn round and ride behind me.” ²⁰Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.”

²¹Joram said, “Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the harlotries and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” ²³Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” ²⁴And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. ²⁵Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Take him up, and cast him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the Lord uttered this oracle against him: ²⁶‘As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—says the Lord—I will requite you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and cast him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”

²⁷When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, and said, “Shoot him also”; and they shot him^j in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸His servants carried him in a 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 began to reign over Judah.

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out of the window. ³¹And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?” ³²And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down; and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. ³⁴Then he went in and ate and drank; and he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.” ³⁵But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. ³⁶When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’ ”

Chapter 10

¹Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters, and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying, ²“Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, ³select the best and fittest of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Behold, the two kings could not stand before him; how then can we stand?” ⁵So he who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and we will do all that you bid us. We will not make any one king; do whatever is good in your eyes.” ⁶Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing them up. ⁷And when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons, and slew them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel. ⁸When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.” ⁹Then in the morning, when he went out, he stood, and said to all the people, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master, and slew him; but who struck down all these? ¹⁰Know then that there 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 what he said by his servant Elijah.” ¹¹So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

¹²Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, ¹³Jehu met the kinsmen of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the kinsmen of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.” ¹⁴He said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two persons, and he spared none of them.

¹⁵And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?”^l And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said,^m “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand. And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. ¹⁶And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So heⁿ had him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to Elijah.

¹⁸Then Jehu assembled all the people, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. ²⁰And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. ²¹And Jehu sent throughout all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. ²²He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them. ²³Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab…