9
1 Elisha
the prophet called
one of the
sons of the
prophets, and said
to him, “Put
your belt on your
waist, take this
vial of oil
in your hand,
and go to
Ramoth Gilead.
2 When
you come there,
find Jehu the
son of Jehoshaphat
the son of
Nimshi, and go
in and make
him rise up
from among his
brothers, and take
him to an
inner room.
3 Then
take the vial
of oil, and
pour it on
his head, and
say, ‘The LORD
says, “I have
anointed you king
over Israel.” ’
Then open the
door, flee,
and don’t wait.”
4 So the
young man, the
young prophet,
went to Ramoth
Gilead.
5 When
he came, behold,
the captains of
the army were
sitting. Then he
said, “I have
a message for
you, captain.”
Jehu said, “To
which one of us?”
He said, “To
you, O captain.”
6 He
arose, and went
into the house.
Then he poured
the oil on
his head, and said
to him, “The
LORD, the God
of Israel, says,
‘I have anointed
you king over
the people of
the LORD, even
over Israel.
7 You
must strike
your master Ahab’s house,
that I may
avenge the blood
of my servants
the prophets, and
the blood of
all the servants
of the LORD,
at the hand
of Jezebel.
8 For
the whole house
of Ahab will
perish. I will
cut off from Ahab
everyone who urinates
against a
wall,
both him who
is shut up
and him who
is left at
large in Israel.
9 I
will make Ahab’s
house like the
house of Jeroboam
the son of
Nebat, and like
the house of
Baasha the son
of Ahijah.
10 The
dogs will eat Jezebel
on the plot
of ground of
Jezreel, and there
shall be no one to
bury her.’ ” Then
he opened the
door and fled.
11 When
Jehu came out
to the servants
of his lord and
one said to
him, “Is all
well? Why did
this madman come
to you?”
He said to
them, “You know
the man and
how he talks.”
12 They said,
“That is a
lie. Tell us
now.”
He said, “He said
to me, ‘The
LORD says, I
have anointed you
king over
Israel.’ ”
13 Then
they hurried, and
each man took
his cloak, and put
it under him
on the top
of the stairs,
and blew the
trumpet, saying, “Jehu
is king.”
14 So
Jehu the son
of Jehoshaphat the
son of Nimshi
conspired against
Joram. (Now Joram
was defending
Ramoth Gilead, he
and all Israel,
because of Hazael
king of Syria;
15 but
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.) Jehu
said, “If this
is your thinking,
then let no
one escape and
go out of
the city to
go to tell
it in Jezreel.”
16 So
Jehu rode in
a chariot and
went to Jezreel,
for Joram lay
there. Ahaziah king
of Judah had
come down to
see Joram.
17 Now
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.”
Joram said, “Take
a horseman, and
send to meet
them, and let
him say, ‘Is it
peace?’ ”
18 So
one went on
horseback to meet
him, and said, “the
king says, ‘Is
it peace?’ ”
Jehu said, “What
do you have
to do with
peace? Fall in behind
me!”
The watchman said, “The
messenger came to
them, but he isn’t
coming back.”
19 Then
he sent out
a second on
horseback, who
came to them
and said, “The
king says, ‘Is
it peace?’ ”
Jehu answered, “What
do you have
to do with
peace? Fall in behind
me!”
20 The
watchman said, “He
came to them,
and isn’t coming back.
The driving is
like the driving
of Jehu the
son of Nimshi,
for he drives
furiously.”
21 Joram
said, “Get ready!”
They got his
chariot ready.
Then Joram king
of Israel
and Ahaziah king
of Judah went
out, each in his
chariot; and they
went out to
meet Jehu, and
found him on
Naboth the
Jezreelite’s land.
22 When
Joram saw Jehu,
he said, “Is it
peace, Jehu?”
He answered, “What
peace, so long
as the prostitution
of your mother Jezebel
and her witchcraft
abound?”
23 Joram
turned his hands
and fled, and said
to Ahaziah, “This
is treason, Ahaziah!”
24 Jehu
drew his bow
with his full
strength, and
struck Joram between
his arms; and
the arrow went
out at his
heart, and he sunk
down in his
chariot.
25 Then Jehu
said to Bidkar his
captain, “Pick him
up, and throw
him in the
plot of the
field of Naboth
the Jezreelite;
for remember how,
when you and
I rode together
after Ahab his father,
the LORD laid
this burden on
him:
26 ‘Surely
I have
seen yesterday the
blood of Naboth,
and the blood
of his sons,’
says the LORD; ‘and
I will repay
you in this
plot of ground,’
says the LORD.
Now therefore take
and cast him onto
the plot of
ground, according to
the LORD’s word.”
27 But
when Ahaziah the
king of Judah
saw this, he
fled by the
way of the
garden house. Jehu
followed after him,
and said, “Strike
him also in
the chariot!” They
struck him at
the ascent of
Gur, which is
by Ibleam. He
fled to Megiddo,
and died there.
28 His
servants carried
him in a
chariot to
Jerusalem, and
buried him in
his tomb with
his fathers in
David’s city.
29 In
the eleventh year
of Joram the
son of Ahab, Ahaziah
began to reign
over Judah.
30 When
Jehu had come to
Jezreel, Jezebel heard
of it; and
she painted her
eyes, and adorned
her head, and
looked out at
the window.
31 As
Jehu entered in
at the gate, she
said, “Do you come in peace,
Zimri, you murderer
of your master?”
32 He
lifted up his
face to the
window, and said, “Who
is on my
side? Who?”
Two or three
eunuchs looked out
at him.
33 He said, “Throw
her down!”
So they threw her
down; and some of
her blood was
sprinkled on the
wall, and on
the horses. Then
he trampled her
under foot.
34 When
he had come
in, he ate and
drank. Then
he said, “See now
to this cursed
woman, and bury
her; for she
is a king’s
daughter.”
35 They
went to bury
her, but they
found no more
of her than
the skull, the
feet, and the
palms of her
hands.
36 Therefore
they came back,
and told him.
He said, “This
is the LORD’s
word, which he
spoke by his
servant Elijah the
Tishbite, saying, ‘The
dogs will eat the
flesh of Jezebel
on the plot
of Jezreel,
37 and
the body of Jezebel
will be as
dung on the
surface of the
field on Jezreel’s
land, so that
they won’t say, “This
is Jezebel.” ’ ”