1Elisha the prophet sent for a man from the group of the prophets. Elisha said to him, ‘Tuck your coat into your belt. Take this bottle of olive oil with you. Go to Ramoth Gilead.2When you get there, look for Jehu. He’s the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to Jehu. Get him away from his companions. Take him into an inside room.3Then get the bottle. Pour the oil on his head. Announce to him, “The LORD says, ‘I anoint you as king over Israel.’ ” After that, open the door and run away. Do it quickly!’4So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead.5When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. ‘Commander, I have a message for you,’ he said. ‘For which one of us?’ asked Jehu. ‘For you, commander,’ he replied.6Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head. He announced, ‘The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, “I am anointing you as king over the LORD’s people Israel.7You must destroy the royal house of your master Ahab. I will pay them back for spilling the blood of my servants the prophets. I will also pay them back for the blood of all the LORD’s servants that Jezebel spilled.8The whole house of Ahab will die out. I will destroy every male in Israel who is related to Ahab. It does not matter whether they are slaves or free.9I will make Ahab’s royal house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. I will make it like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah.10Dogs will eat up Jezebel on a piece of land at Jezreel. No one will bury her.” ’ Then the prophet opened the door and ran away.11Jehu went out to where the other officers were. One of them asked him, ‘Is everything all right? Why did that crazy man come to you?’ ‘You know the man. You know the kinds of things he says,’ Jehu replied.12‘That’s not true!’ they said. ‘Tell us.’ Jehu said, ‘Here is what he told me. He announced, “The LORD says, ‘I am anointing you as king over Israel.’ ” ’13The officers quickly grabbed their coats. They spread them out under Jehu on the bare steps of the house. Then they blew a trumpet. They shouted, ‘Jehu is king!’
Jehu kills Joram and Ahaziah
14Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Jehu made plans against Joram. During that time Joram and Israel’s whole army had been guarding Ramoth Gilead. They had been guarding it against Hazael, the king of Aram.15But King Joram had returned to Jezreel. He had gone there to give his wounds time to heal. The soldiers of Aram had wounded him in his battle against Hazael, the king of Aram. Jehu said to his men, ‘Do you want to make me king? If you do, don’t let anyone sneak out of the city. Don’t let them go and tell the news in Jezreel.’16Then Jehu got into his chariot. He rode off to Jezreel. Joram was resting there. And Ahaziah, the king of Judah, had gone down to see him.17A lookout was standing on the roof of the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s troops approaching. So he called out, ‘I see some troops coming.’ ‘Get a horseman,’ Joram ordered. ‘Send him to ride out to them. Let him ask, “Are you coming in peace?” ’18The horseman rode out to where Jehu was. He said, ‘The king asks, “Are you coming in peace?” ’ ‘What do you know about peace?’ Jehu answered. ‘Get in line behind me.’ The lookout reported, ‘The messenger has reached them. But he isn’t coming back.’19So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them, he said, ‘The king asks, “Are you coming in peace?” ’ Jehu replied, ‘What do you know about peace? Get in line behind me.’20The lookout reported, ‘The second messenger has reached them. But he isn’t coming back either. The one driving the chariot drives like Jehu, the son of Nimshi. He’s driving like a crazy person.’21‘Get my chariot ready,’ King Joram ordered. When it was ready, he rode out. Ahaziah, the king of Judah, rode out with him. Each of them was in his own chariot. They both went to meet Jehu. They met him at the piece of land that had belonged to Naboth from Jezreel.22When Joram saw Jehu he asked, ‘Have you come here in peace, Jehu?’ ‘Your mother Jezebel worships statues of gods,’ Jehu replied. ‘She also worships evil powers. The evil things she does have spread everywhere. As long as all of that goes on, how can there be peace?’23Joram turned round and tried to get away. He called out, ‘It’s treason, Ahaziah!’24Then Jehu shot an arrow at Joram. It hit him between the shoulders. It went through his heart. He sank down slowly in his chariot.25Jehu spoke to Bidkar, his chariot officer. Jehu said, ‘Pick Joram up. Throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth from Jezreel. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Joram’s father Ahab? It was when the LORD spoke this prophecy against him. The LORD announced,26“Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons. You can be sure that I will make you pay for it on this piece of land.” So pick Joram up. Throw him on that piece of land. That’s what the LORD said would happen.’27Ahaziah, the king of Judah, saw what had happened. So he tried to get away. He went up the road towards Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him. He shouted, ‘Kill him too!’ Jehu’s men wounded Ahaziah in his chariot. It happened on the way up to Gur near Ibleam. But Ahaziah escaped to Megiddo. And that’s where he died.28Ahaziah’s servants took him to Jerusalem in his chariot. They buried him in his family tomb in the City of David.29Ahaziah had become king of Judah. It was in the 11th year of Joram, the son of Ahab.
Jehu kills Jezebel
30Jehu went to Jezreel. Jezebel heard about it. So she put makeup on her eyes and fixed her hair. Then she looked out of a window.31Jehu entered the gate below. Jezebel said to him, ‘You are just like Zimri. You murdered your master. Have you come here in peace?’32Jehu looked up at the window. ‘Who is on my side?’ he called out. ‘Who?’ Two or three officials looked down at him.33‘Throw her down!’ Jehu said. So they threw her down. Some of her blood splashed on the wall. Some of it splashed on Jehu’s chariot horses as they ran over her.34Jehu went inside. He ate and drank. ‘The LORD put a curse on that woman,’ he said. ‘Take proper care of her body. Bury her. After all, she was a king’s daughter.’35So they went out to bury her. But all they found was her head, feet and hands.36They went back and reported it to Jehu. He told them, ‘That’s what the LORD said would happen. He announced it through his servant Elijah, who was from Tishbe. He said, “On a piece of land at Jezreel, dogs will eat up Jezebel’s body.37Her body will end up as garbage on that piece of land. So no one will be able to say, ‘Here’s where Jezebel is buried.’ ” ’
2 Kings 9
English Standard Version
Jehu Anointed King of Israel
1Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tie up your garments, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. (1Sa 10:1; 1Ki 18:46; 1Ki 22:3; 2Ki 2:3; 2Ki 8:28)2And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. (1Ki 19:16; 2Ki 9:5; 2Ki 9:11; 2Ki 9:14; 2Ki 9:20)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 linger.” (1Ki 19:16; 2Ch 22:7)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, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. (2Ki 9:3)7And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. (1Ki 18:4; 1Ki 21:5)8For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. (De 32:36; 1Sa 25:22; 1Ki 14:10; 1Ki 21:21; 2Ki 10:17)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. (1Ki 14:10; 1Ki 15:29; 1Ki 16:3; 1Ki 16:11; 1Ki 21:22)10And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled. (1Ki 21:23; 2Ki 9:35)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.” (2Ki 5:21; Jer 29:26; Ho 9:7; Joh 10:20; Ac 26:24)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[1] steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.” (1Ki 1:34; Mt 21:8; Mr 11:8)
Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah
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, (1Ki 19:17; 2Ki 8:28)15but 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.” (2Ki 8:29)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 is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” (2Sa 18:27; 1Ki 19:17; 2Ki 9:2; 2Ki 9:14)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. (1Ki 18:44; 1Ki 21:1; 2Ki 9:26; 2Ch 22:7)22And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” (2Ch 21:13)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 throw 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 made this pronouncement against him: (1Ki 21:19; 1Ki 21:29; 2Ki 7:2; 2Ki 9:21; Isa 13:1)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.”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[2] in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. (Jos 17:11; 2Ch 22:9)28His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. (2Ki 23:30; 2Ch 35:24)29In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. (2Ki 8:25)
Jehu Executes Jezebel
30When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. (Jer 4:30; Eze 23:40)31And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?” (1Ki 16:9)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.” (1Ki 16:31)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, (1Ki 21:23)37and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’” (Ps 83:10; Jer 8:2; Jer 9:22; Jer 16:4; Jer 25:33)