2 Kings 9

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1. 1Elisha the prophet called one of the young prophets and told him, "Get yourself ready. Take this flask of oil and go to Ramoth Gilead.
2. 2When you get there, find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Nimshi. Pull him away from the other officers and take him into a private room.
3. 3Then pour this oil on his head and say, 'The LORD declares: I have anointed you king over Israel.' After that, throw open the door and run. Don't wait around."
4. 4So the young prophet set out for Ramoth Gilead.
5. 5When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting together. He said, "I have a message for you, commander." Jehu asked, "Which one of us?" He replied, "For you, commander."
6. 6Jehu got up and went inside the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and told him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I have anointed you king over the LORD's people — over Israel.
7. 7You are to destroy the entire household of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and all the LORD's servants who were murdered by Jezebel.
8. 8The whole family of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male who urinates against a wall, both those confined and those left free in Israel.
9. 9I will make Ahab's house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.
10. 10As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the land of Jezreel, and no one will bury her.'" Then the young prophet threw open the door and ran.
11. 11When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord, one of them asked, "Is everything all right? Why did that mad fellow come to you?" Jehu replied, "You know the man and his talk."
12. 12And they said, 'That's not true; tell us now.' And he replied, 'This is what he said to me: The LORD says, I have anointed you king over Israel.'
13. 13Immediately every officer grabbed his cloak and spread it under Jehu on the bare steps. They blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is king!"
14. 14So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Nimshi, formed a conspiracy against Joram. (At that time, Joram and the whole Israelite army had been defending Ramoth Gilead against King Hazael of Syria.
15. 15But King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Syrians had inflicted on him in battle against Hazael.) Jehu said to the officers, "If you're truly with me, then don't let anyone slip out of this city to warn Jezreel."
16. 16Then Jehu got in his chariot and drove toward Jezreel, where Joram was recovering. King Ahaziah of Judah had also come down to visit Joram.
17. 17A watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel spotted Jehu's company approaching and called out, "I see a group of men coming!" Joram ordered, "Send a horseman to meet them and ask, 'Do you come in peace?'"
18. 18The horseman rode out to meet Jehu and said, "The king asks, 'Do you come in peace?'" Jehu shot back, "What do you know about peace? Fall in behind me!" The watchman reported, "The messenger reached them, but he's not coming back."
19. 19So Joram sent a second horseman, who rode up and said, "The king asks, 'Do you come in peace?'" Jehu answered, "What do you know about peace? Fall in behind me!"
20. 20The watchman reported again, "He reached them, but he's not coming back either. And the driving — it's like Jehu son of Nimshi. He drives like a madman!"
21. 21Joram shouted, "Get my chariot ready!" Once it was prepared, King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah each rode out in their own chariots to meet Jehu. They met him right on the plot of land that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.
22. 22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "Is it peace, Jehu?" Jehu replied, "What peace can there be as long as your mother Jezebel's whoredoms and witchcrafts are so many?"
23. 23Joram turned his hands and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, 'There is treachery, Ahaziah!'
24. 24Jehu drew his bow with all his strength and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he collapsed in his chariot.
25. 25Jehu told his officer Bidkar, "Pick up his body and throw it on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab? The LORD pronounced this judgment against him:
26. 26'I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,' declares the LORD, 'and I will make you pay for it on this very plot of ground,' declares the LORD. So pick him up and throw him on that land, just as the LORD said."
27. 27When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he fled down the road toward Beth Haggan. Jehu chased after him and ordered, 'Shoot him too!' They struck him in his chariot on the road going up to Gur, near Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo and died there.
28. 28His servants carried his body by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the city of David.
29. 29Ahaziah had become king of Judah during the 11th year of Joram son of Ahab's reign.
30. 30When Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard the news. She painted her eyes, styled her hair, and looked down from an upper window.
31. 31As Jehu entered the gate, she said, "Did Zimri have peace, who killed his master?"
32. 32Jehu looked up at the window and shouted, "Who is on my side? Anyone?" 2 or 3 eunuchs looked down at him from the window.
33. 33"Throw her down!" he ordered. So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her underfoot.
34. 34Then he went inside and ate and drank. Afterward he said, "Go deal with that cursed woman — bury her. After all, she was a king's daughter."
35. 35But when they went to bury her, all they found was her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.
36. 36They came back and told Jehu. He said, "This is exactly what the LORD spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'Dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the land of Jezreel.
37. 37Her remains will be scattered like dung across the field in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to point to a grave and say, "This is where Jezebel is buried."'"