2 *Kings 9

₁The prophet Elisha called one of the other prophets and told him: ‘Tie your clothes so that you can run fast. Take this jar of olive oil with you and go to the town of Ramoth in Gilead. ₂When you get there and you see Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, tell him to come with you away from the other officers and take him alone into a room. ₃Then you must take the olive oil in this jar and pour it onto his head and say: “The Lord says He anoints you to be king_of_Israel.” Then you must open the door and go away immediately.’

₄The young prophet went to Ramoth in Gilead ₅and when he came there, he saw the officers sitting together. He said to Jehu: ‘Officer, I have a message for you.’ Jehu asked: ‘For which one of us is the message?’ The prophet answered: ‘The message is for you, officer.’

₆Jehu got up and he went with the prophet into the house. Then the prophet poured the olive oil onto his head and said to him: ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says: “I anoint you to be king of my people Israel. ₇You must kill the family of your King Ahab. I want to punish them because Jezebel killed my servants, the prophets, and all my other servants. ₈The family of Ahab must all die. I will cause all the men and boys of the family of Ahab to die, everyone in the land_of_Israel, all who are married and the ones who are not married. ₉I will do the same to the family of King Ahab as I did to the family of King Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and the family of King Baasha, son of Ahijah. ₁₀The dogs will eat Jezebel in the town of Jezreel. No one will bury her.” ’

After the prophet gave this message to Jehu, he opened the door and ran away. ₁₁Jehu went to the officers of the king and one officer asked him: ‘Is there a problem? Why did that mad man come to you?’ Jehu said: ‘It is not important. You know that man and what he always talks about.’ ₁₂But the other officers said: ‘No, that is not_true. Tell us what he said.’ And Jehu said: ‘The prophet told me: “God says He anoints you to be king_of_Israel.” ’ ₁₃Then the officers took off their cloaks and threw them on the stairs before Jehu. They blew the trumpet and shouted: ‘Jehu is king.’

_14-15Jehu, son of Nimshi, and the officers made plans to kill King Joram. Joram was in the town of Jezreel to get better after the Aramean soldiers had shot and wounded him when he wanted to take back the town of Ramoth in Gilead, when Joram and the men of Israel made war_against King Hazael of Aram. Jehu said to the officers: ‘If you want me to be king, then you must make sure that no one gets away from Ramoth to go and tell the king in Jezreel what we want to do.’

₁₆Jehu went to Jezreel because Joram lay there sick and King Ahaziah of Judah was visiting Joram. ₁₇The guard on the tower of Jezreel saw all the people with Jehu coming to them and he shouted: ‘I see a lot of people.’ Joram said: ‘Send a messenger on a horse to them and tell him to ask them if there is a problem.’ ₁₈The messenger went to Jehu and he said: ‘The king asks if there is a problem.’ Jehu said: ‘Why do you ask if there is a problem? It does not_matter. Turn_around and come with me.’ The guard in Jezreel shouted: ‘The messenger went to the people, but he is not coming back alone.’ ₁₉The king sent another messenger on a horse and he came to the men and said: ‘The king asks if there is a problem.’ Jehu also said to him: ‘Why do you ask if there is a problem? It does not_matter. Turn_around and come with me.’

₂₀Then the guard in Jezreel shouted: ‘The messenger went to them, but he is also not coming back alone. It seems as if it is Jehu in his war-chariot because he is driving like a mad man.’

₂₁Joram told them to get his war-chariot. They did it and he and King Ahaziah of Judah started to ride to meet Jehu, each one in his own war-chariot. They came to him at the field that belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. ₂₂When Joram saw Jehu, he asked him: ‘Jehu, is there a problem?’ Jehu said: ‘The problem is that your mother Jezebel teaches people to serve_idols and use magic.’ ₂₃Joram turned his war-chariot around and he shouted to Ahaziah: ‘They have betrayed us.’ ₂₄But Jehu took his bow_and_arrow and he shot Joram in the back. The arrow went through Joram's heart and he fell. He was dead in his war-chariot. ₂₅Jehu told his officer Bidkar: ‘Take him and throw him down on the field of Naboth of Jezreel. Can you remember that you and I were behind his father Ahab when the Lord said that this would happen? ₂₆The Lord said: “Last night I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons, and I promise that I will punish you on this same field.” ’ Jehu said: ‘Take him and throw him on the ground, as the Lord said.’

₂₇When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what had happened, he fled on the road to the town of Beth-Haggan, but Jehu chased him and said: ‘He must die too.’ Jehu's men shot and wounded Ahaziah in his war-chariot on his way to the town of Gur, near the town of Ibleam. But Ahaziah escaped and fled to the town of Megiddo and he died there. ₂₈His servants took his body to Jerusalem and buried him in the grave of his forefathers in the City of David. ₂₉Ahaziah became king_of_Judah in the 11th year after Joram, son of Ahab, had become king_of_Israel.

₃₀When they told Jezebel that Jehu had come to the town of Jezreel, she painted her eyes and made her hair look beautiful and went to the window. ₃₁When Jehu came to the gate, Jezebel asked him: ‘What is your problem? You are like Zimri. You have killed your king.’ ₃₂Jehu looked up to the window and asked: ‘Who wants to help me?’ There were 2 or 3 emasculated men who worked in the palace who looked down at Jehu from the windows and Jehu said: ‘Throw her down onto the ground.’ ₃₃They threw her down and some of her blood fell on the wall and on the horses. The horses trampled her and she died. ₃₄Jehu went into the palace. He ate some food and drank something. Then he said: ‘You must make sure that someone buries that bad woman because she is a king's daughter.’ ₃₅But when they went to bury her, they found only her skull and feet and hands. ₃₆They came back and told Jehu. Then Jehu said: ‘This was the message that the Lord sent with his servant Elijah from Tishbe. Elijah said: “The dogs will eat Jezebel's body in the open ground at Jezreel, ₃₇and the pieces that are left over will be like manure on the fields of Jezreel. No one will be able to say that this was Jezebel.” ’