To The Word – Day 118

₁One day the group of prophets that Elisha was in charge of complained to him, “The place where we live is too small! ₂Give us permission to go to the Jordan and cut down some trees, so that we can build a place to live.”

“All right,” Elisha answered.

₃One of them urged him to go with them; he agreed, ₄and they set out together. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began to work. ₅As one of them was cutting down a tree, suddenly his iron axe head fell in the water. “What shall I do, sir?” he exclaimed to Elisha. “It was a borrowed axe!”

₆“Where did it fall?” Elisha asked.

The man showed him the place, and Elisha cut off a stick, threw it in the water, and made the axe head float. ₇“Take it out,” he ordered, and the man bent down and picked it up.

₈The king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his officers and chose a place to set up his camp. ₉But Elisha sent word to the king of Israel, warning him not to go near that place, because the Syrians were waiting in ambush there. ₁₀So the king of Israel warned the people who lived in that place, and they were on guard. This happened several times.

₁₁The Syrian king became greatly upset over this; he called in his officers and asked them, “Which one of you is on the side of the king of Israel?”

₁₂One of them answered, “No one is, Your Majesty. The prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own room.”

₁₃“Find out where he is,” the king ordered, “and I will capture him.”

When he was told that Elisha was in Dothan, ₁₄he sent a large force there with horses and chariots. They reached the town at night and surrounded it. ₁₅Early the next morning Elisha's servant got up, went out of the house, and saw the Syrian troops with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. He went back to Elisha and exclaimed, “We are doomed, sir! What shall we do?”

₁₆“Don't be afraid,” Elisha answered. “We have more on our side than they have on theirs.” ₁₇Then he prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD answered his prayer, and Elisha's servant looked up and saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha.

₁₈When the Syrians attacked, Elisha prayed, “O LORD, strike these men blind!” The LORD answered his prayer and struck them blind. ₁₉Then Elisha went to them and said, “You are on the wrong road; this is not the town you are looking for. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are after.” And he led them to Samaria.

₂₀As soon as they had entered the city, Elisha prayed, “Open their eyes, LORD, and let them see.” The LORD answered his prayer; he restored their sight, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.

₂₁When the king of Israel saw the Syrians, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, sir? Shall I kill them?”

₂₂“No,” he answered. “Not even soldiers you had captured in combat would you put to death. Give them something to eat and drink, and let them return to their king.” ₂₃So the king of Israel provided a great feast for them; and after they had eaten and drunk, he sent them back to the king of Syria. From then on the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel.

₂₄Some time later King Benhadad of Syria led his entire army against Israel and laid siege to the city of Samaria. ₂₅As a result of the siege the food shortage in the city was so severe that a donkey's head cost eighty pieces of silver, and 200 grammes of dove's dung cost five pieces of silver.

₂₆The king of Israel was walking by on the city wall when a woman cried out, “Help me, Your Majesty!”

₂₇He replied, “If the LORD won't help you, what help can I provide? Have I got any wheat or wine? ₂₈What's your trouble?”

She answered, “The other day this woman here suggested that we eat my child, and then eat her child the next day. ₂₉So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her that we would eat her son, but she had hidden him!”

₃₀Hearing this, the king tore his clothes in dismay, and the people who were close to the wall could see that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. ₃₁He exclaimed, “May God strike me dead if Elisha is not beheaded before the day is over!” ₃₂And he sent a messenger to get Elisha.

Meanwhile, Elisha was at home with some elders who were visiting him. Before the king's messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “That murderer is sending someone to kill me! Now, when he gets here, shut the door and don't let him come in. The king himself will be just behind him.” ₃₃He had hardly finished saying this, when the king arrived and said, “It's the LORD who has brought this trouble on us! Why should I wait any longer for him to do something?”

₁Elisha answered, “Listen to what the LORD says! By this time tomorrow you will be able to buy in Samaria three kilogrammes of the best wheat or six kilogrammes of barley for one piece of silver.”

₂The personal attendant of the king said to Elisha, “That can't happen — not even if the LORD himself were to send grain at once!”

“You will see it happen, but you will never eat any of the food,” Elisha replied.

₃Four men who were suffering from a dreaded skin disease were outside the gates of Samaria, and they said to one another, “Why should we wait here until we die? ₄It's no use going into the city, because we would starve to death in there; but if we stay here, we'll die also. So let's go to the Syrian camp; the worst they can do is kill us, but maybe they will spare our lives.” ₅So, as it began to get dark, they went to the Syrian camp, but when they reached it, no one was there. ₆The Lord had made the Syrians hear what sounded like the advance of a large army, with horses and chariots, and the Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies to attack them. ₇So that evening the Syrians had fled for their lives, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys, and leaving the camp just as it was.

₈When the four men reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank what was there, grabbed the silver, gold, and clothing they found, and went off and hid them; then they returned, entered another tent, and did the same thing. ₉But then they said to each other, “We shouldn't be doing this! We have good news and we shouldn't keep it to ourselves. If we wait until morning to tell it, we are sure to be punished. Let's go at once and tell the king's officers!” ₁₀So they left the Syrian camp, went back to Samaria and called out to the guards at the gates: “We went to the Syrian camp and didn't see or hear anybody; the horses and donkeys have not been untied, and the tents are just as the Syrians left them.”

₁₁The guards announced the news, and it was reported in the palace. ₁₂It was still night, but the king got out of bed and said to his officials, “I'll tell you what the Syrians are planning! They know about the famine here, so they have left their camp to go and hide in the countryside. They think that we will leave the city to find food, and then they will take us alive and capture the city.”

₁₃One of his officials said, “The people here in the city are doomed anyway, like those that have already died. So let's send some men with five of the horses that are left, so that we can find out what has happened.” ₁₄They chose some men, and the king sent them in two chariots with instructions to go and find out what had happened to the Syrian army. ₁₅The men went as far as the Jordan, and all along the road they saw the clothes and equipment that the Syrians had abandoned as they fled. Then they returned and reported to the king. ₁₆The people of Samaria rushed out and looted the Syrian camp. And, as the LORD had said, three kilogrammes of the best wheat or six kilogrammes of barley were sold for one piece of silver.

₁₇It so happened that the king of Israel had put the city gate under the command of the officer who was his personal attendant. The officer was trampled to death there by the people and died, as Elisha had predicted when the king went to see him. ₁₈Elisha had told the king that by that time the following day three kilogrammes of the best wheat or six kilogrammes of barley would be sold in Samaria for one piece of silver, ₁₉to which the officer had answered, “That can't happen — not even if the LORD himself were to send grain at once!” And Elisha had replied, “You will see it happen, but you will never eat any of the food.” ₂₀And that is just what happened to him — he died, trampled to death by the people at the city gate.

₁Now Elisha had told the woman who lived in Shunem, whose son he had brought back to life, that the LORD was sending a famine on the land, which would last for seven years, and that she should leave with her family and go and live somewhere else. ₂She had followed his instructions, and had gone with her family to live in Philistia for the seven years.

₃At the end of the seven years, she returned to Israel and went to the king to ask for her house and her land to be restored to her. ₄She found the king talking with Gehazi, Elisha's servant; the king wanted to know about Elisha's miracles. ₅While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead person back to life, the woman made her appeal to the king. Gehazi said to him, “Your Majesty, here is the woman and here is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!” ₆In answer to the king's question, she confirmed Gehazi's story, and so the king called an official and told him to give back to her everything that was hers, including the value of all the crops that her fields had produced during the seven years she had been away.

₇Elisha went to Damascus at a time when King Benhadad of Syria was ill. When the king was told that Elisha was there, ₈he said to Hazael, one of his officials, “Take a gift to the prophet, and ask him to consult the LORD to find out whether or not I am going to get well.” ₉So Hazael loaded forty camels with all kinds of the finest products of Damascus and went to Elisha. When Hazael met him, he said, “Your servant King Benhadad has sent me to ask you whether or not he will recover from his illness.”

₁₀Elisha answered, “The LORD has revealed to me that he will die; but go to him and tell him that he will recover.” ₁₁Then Elisha stared at him with a horrified look on his face until Hazael became ill at ease. Suddenly Elisha burst into tears. ₁₂“Why are you crying, sir?” Hazael asked.

“Because I know the horrible things you will do against the people of Israel,” Elisha answered. “You will set their fortresses on fire, slaughter their finest young men, batter their children to death, and rip open their pregnant women.”

₁₃“How could I ever be that powerful?” Hazael asked. “I'm a nobody!”

“The LORD has shown me that you will be king of Syria,” Elisha replied.

₁₄Hazael went back to Benhadad, who asked him, “What did Elisha say?”

“He told me that you would certainly get well,” Hazael answered. ₁₅But on the following day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and smothered the king.

And Hazael succeeded Benhadad as king of Syria.

₁₆In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah ₁₇at the age of 32, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. ₁₈His wife was Ahab's daughter, and like the family of Ahab he followed the evil ways of the kings of Israel. He sinned against the LORD, ₁₉but the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that his descendants would always continue to rule.

₂₀During Jehoram's reign Edom revolted against Judah and became an independent kingdom. ₂₁So Jehoram set out with all his chariots for Zair, where the Edomite army surrounded them. During the night he and his chariot commanders managed to break out and escape, and his soldiers scattered to their homes. ₂₂Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. During this same period the city of Libnah also revolted.

₂₃Everything else that Jehoram did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. ₂₄Jehoram died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

₂₅In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah ₂₆at the age of 22, and he ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother was Athaliah, the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. ₂₇Since Ahaziah was related to King Ahab by marriage, he sinned against the LORD, just as Ahab's family did.

₂₈King Ahaziah joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead, and Joram was wounded in battle. ₂₉He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds, and Ahaziah went there to visit him.

₁Meanwhile the prophet Elisha called one of the young prophets and said to him, “Get ready and go to Ramoth in Gilead. Take this jar of olive oil with you, ₂and when you get there look for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Take him to a private room away from his companions, ₃pour this olive oil on his head, and say, ‘The LORD proclaims that he anoints you king of Israel.’ Then leave there as fast as you can.”

₄So the young prophet went to Ramoth, ₅where he found the army officers in a conference. He said, “Sir, I have a message for you.”

Jehu asked, “Which one of us are you speaking to?”

“To you, sir,” he replied. ₆Then the two of them went indoors, and the young prophet poured the olive oil on Jehu's head and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims: ‘I anoint you king of my people Israel. ₇You are to kill your master the king, that son of Ahab, so that I may punish Jezebel for murdering my prophets and my other servants. ₈All Ahab's family and descendants are to die; I will get rid of every male in his family, young and old alike. ₉I will treat his family as I did the families of King Jeroboam of Israel and of King Baasha of Israel. ₁₀Jezebel will not be buried; her body will be eaten by dogs in the territory of Jezreel.’ ” After saying this, the young prophet left the room and fled.

₁₁Jehu went back to his fellow-officers, who asked him, “Is everything all right? What did that crazy fellow want with you?”

“You know what he wanted,” Jehu answered.

₁₂“No we don't!” they replied. “Tell us what he said!”

“He told me that the LORD proclaims: ‘I anoint you king of Israel.’ ”

₁₃At once Jehu's fellow-officers spread their cloaks at the top of the steps for Jehu to stand on, blew trumpets, and shouted, “Jehu is king!”

_14-15Then Jehu plotted against King Joram, who was in Jezreel, where he had gone to recover from the wounds which he had received in the battle at Ramoth against King Hazael of Syria. So Jehu said to his fellow-officers, “If you are with me, make sure that no one slips out of Ramoth to go and warn the people in Jezreel.” ₁₆Then he got into his chariot and set off for Jezreel. Joram had still not recovered, and King Ahaziah of Judah was there, visiting him.

₁₇A guard on duty in the watchtower at Jezreel saw Jehu and his men approaching. “I see some men riding up!” he called out.

Joram replied, “Send a rider to find out if they are friends or enemies.”

₁₈The messenger rode out to Jehu and said to him, “The king wants to know if you come as a friend.”

“That's none of your business!” Jehu answered. “Fall in behind me.”

The guard on the watchtower reported that the messenger had reached the group but was not returning. ₁₉Another messenger was sent out, who asked Jehu the same question. Again Jehu answered, “That's none of your business! Fall in behind me.”

₂₀Once more the guard reported that the messenger had reached the group but was not returning. And he added, “The leader of the group is driving his chariot like a madman, just like Jehu!”

₂₁“Get my chariot ready,” King Joram ordered. It was done, and he and King Ahaziah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the field which had belonged to Naboth. ₂₂“Are you coming in peace?” Joram asked him.

“How can there be peace,” Jehu answered, “when we still have all the witchcraft and idolatry that your mother Jezebel started?”

₂₃“It's treason, Ahaziah!” Joram cried out, as he turned his chariot round and fled. ₂₄Jehu drew his bow, and with all his strength shot an arrow that struck Joram in the back and pierced his heart. Joram fell dead in his chariot, ₂₅and Jehu said to his aide Bidkar, “Get his body and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth. Remember that when you and I were riding together behind King Joram's father Ahab, the LORD spoke these words against Ahab: ₂₆‘I saw the murder of Naboth and his sons yesterday. And I promise that I will punish you here in this same field.’ So take Joram's body,” Jehu ordered his aide, “and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth, so as to fulfil the LORD's promise.”

₂₇King Ahaziah saw what happened, so he fled in his chariot towards the town of Beth Haggan, pursued by Jehu. “Kill him too!” Jehu ordered his men, and they wounded him as he drove his chariot on the road up to Gur, near the town of Ibleam. But he managed to keep going until he reached the city of Megiddo, where he died. ₂₈His officials took his body back to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in the royal tombs in David's City.

₂₉Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel.

₃₀Jehu arrived in Jezreel. Jezebel, having heard what had happened, put on eyeshadow, arranged her hair, and stood looking down at the street from a window in the palace. ₃₁As Jehu came through the gate, she called out, “You Zimri! You assassin! Why are you here?”

₃₂Jehu looked up and shouted, “Who is on my side?” Two or three palace officials looked down at him from a window, ₃₃and Jehu said to them, “Throw her down!” They threw her down, and her blood spattered the wall and the horses. Jehu drove his horses and chariot over her body, ₃₄entered the palace, and had a meal. Only then did he say, “Take that cursed woman and bury her; after all, she is a king's daughter.” ₃₅But the men who went out to bury her found nothing except her skull, and the bones of her hands and feet. ₃₆When they reported this to Jehu, he said, “This is what the LORD said would happen, when he spoke through his servant Elijah: ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel's body in the territory of Jezreel. ₃₇Her remains will be scattered there like dung, so that no one will be able to identify them.’ ”

₁There were seventy descendants of King Ahab living in the city of Samaria. Jehu wrote a letter and sent copies to the rulers of the city, to the leading citizens, and to the guardians of Ahab's descendants. The letter read: ₂“You are in charge of the king's descendants and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, weapons, and fortified cities. So then, as soon as you receive this letter, ₃you are to choose the best qualified of the king's descendants, make him king, and fight to defend him.”

₄The rulers of Samaria were terrified. “How can we oppose Jehu,” they said, “when neither King Joram nor King Ahaziah could?” ₅So the officer in charge of the palace and the official in charge of the city, together with the leading citizens and the guardians, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and we are ready to do anything you say. But we will not make anyone king; do whatever you think best.”

₆Jehu wrote them another letter: “If you are with me, and are ready to follow my orders, bring the heads of King Ahab's descendants to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”

The seventy descendants of King Ahab were under the care of the leading citizens of Samaria, who were bringing them up. ₇When Jehu's letter was received, the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's descendants, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

₈When Jehu was told that the heads of Ahab's descendants had been brought, he ordered them to be piled up in two heaps at the city gate and to be left there until the following morning. ₉In the morning, he went out to the gate and said to the people who were there, “I was the one who plotted against King Joram and killed him; you are not responsible for that. But who killed all these? ₁₀This proves that everything that the LORD said about the descendants of Ahab will come true. The LORD has done what he promised through his prophet Elijah.” ₁₁Then Jehu put to death all the other relatives of Ahab living in Jezreel, and all his officers, close friends, and priests; not one of them was left alive.

₁₂Jehu left Jezreel to go to Samaria. On the way, at a place called “Shepherds' Camp”, ₁₃he met some relatives of the late King Ahaziah of Judah and asked them, “Who are you?”

“Ahaziah's relatives,” they answered. “We are going to Jezreel to pay our respects to the children of Queen Jezebel and to the rest of the royal family.” ₁₄Jehu ordered his men, “Take them alive!” They seized them, and he put them to death near a pit there. There were 42 people in all, and not one of them was left alive.

₁₅Jehu started out again, and on his way he was met by Jonadab son of Rechab. Jehu greeted him and said, “You and I think alike. Will you support me?”

“I will,” Jonadab answered.

“Give me your hand, then,” Jehu replied. They clasped hands, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot, ₁₆saying, “Come with me and see for yourself how devoted I am to the LORD.” And they rode on together to Samaria. ₁₇When they arrived there, Jehu killed all of Ahab's relatives, not sparing even one. This is what the LORD had told Elijah would happen.

₁₈Jehu called the people of Samaria together and said, “King Ahab served the god Baal a little, but I will serve him much more. ₁₉Call together all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests. No one is excused; I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal, and whoever is not present will be put to death.” (This was a trick on the part of Jehu by which he meant to kill all the worshippers of Baal.) ₂₀Then Jehu ordered, “Proclaim a day of worship in honour of Baal!” The proclamation was made, ₂₁and Jehu sent word throughout all the land of Israel. All who worshipped Baal came; not one of them failed to come. They all went into the temple of Baal, filling it from one end to the other. ₂₂Then Jehu ordered the priest in charge of the sacred robes to bring the robes out and give them to the worshippers. ₂₃After that, Jehu himself went into the temple with Jonadab son of Rechab and said to the people there, “Make sure that only worshippers of Baal are present and that no worshipper of the LORD has come in.” ₂₄Then he and Jonadab went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to Baal. He had stationed eighty men outside the temple and had instructed them: “You are to kill all these people; anyone who lets one of them escape will pay for it with his life!”

₂₅As soon as Jehu had presented the offerings, he said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them all; don't let anyone escape!” They went in with drawn swords, killed them all, and dragged the bodies outside. Then they went on into the inner sanctuary of the temple, ₂₆brought out the sacred pillar that was there, and burnt it. ₂₇So they destroyed the sacred pillar and the temple, and turned the temple into a latrine — which it still is today.

₂₈That was how Jehu wiped out the worship of Baal in Israel. ₂₉But he imitated the sin of King Jeroboam, who led Israel into the sin of worshipping the gold bull calves he set up in Bethel and in Dan. ₃₀The LORD said to Jehu, “You have done to Ahab's descendants everything I wanted you to do. So I promise you that your descendants, down to the fourth generation, will be kings of Israel.” ₃₁But Jehu did not obey with all his heart the law of the LORD, the God of Israel; instead, he followed the example of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin.

₃₂At that time the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria conquered all the Israelite territory ₃₃east of the Jordan, as far south as the town of Aroer on the River Arnon — this included the territories of Gilead and Bashan, where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh lived.

₃₄Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. ₃₅He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. ₃₆Jehu had ruled in Samaria as king of Israel for 28 years.