Jehu Anointed King of Israel

¹Then Elisha the prophet called one of cthe sons of the prophets and said to him, d“Tie up your garments, and take this eflask of oil in your hand, and go to fRamoth-gilead. ²And when you arrive, look there for Jehu gthe son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among hhis 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, iI anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”

⁴So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council. And he said, “I have a word for 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, iI anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge jon 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, kand I will cut off from Ahab levery male, mbond or free, in Israel. ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab like nthe house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like othe house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰pAnd 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, q“Is all well? Why did rthis 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 severy man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare1 steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, t“Jehu is king.”

Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah

¹⁴Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (uNow Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against vHazael king of Syria, ¹⁵wbut King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, “If this is your decision, 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 saw 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 do you have to do with peace? Turn around 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 do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” ²⁰Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving xis like the driving of Jehu ythe son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹Joram said, z“Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. aThen Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him bat 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 cthe whorings 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 dhis aide, “Take him up and throw him bon the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how ethe Lord made this fpronouncement against him: ²⁶‘As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the Lord—I will repay you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”

²⁷gWhen 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 him2 in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by hIbleam. And he fled to hMegiddo and died there. ²⁸iHis servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David.

²⁹In the jeleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

Jehu Executes Jezebel

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And kshe painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. ³¹And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, l“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, mfor 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: n‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, ³⁷and the corpse of Jezebel shall be oas dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’”