2 Kings 9

1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tie up your robe, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, and make him get up from among his brothers, and bring him into an inner room, a room inside the room. [a] 3 And take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run, and do not wait.”

4 So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 He went in, and there were the commanders of the army sitting together. And he said, “I have a word for you, commander.” And Jehu said, “For which of us all?” And he said, “For you, commander.”

6 And Jehu got up and went into the house, and the young man poured the oil on his head and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. 7 And you are to destroy the house of Ahab your master from before me, and to avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel 8 and at the hand of the whole house of Ahab. And you are to destroy for the house of Ahab every male, the one shut in and the one left at large in Israel. [b] 9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 And the dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there will be no one to bury her.” Then he opened the door and ran.

11 And Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and they said to him, “Is it peace? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the man and his babbling.” [c] 12 And they said, “That is not right. Tell us now.” And Jehu said to them, “It was like this and like this that he spoke to me. He said, ‘Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you king over Israel.’” 13 And when they heard it they hurried, and each man took his cloak and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the horn and said, “Jehu is king!” [d]

14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. Now Joram had been holding Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Aram, [e] 15 and King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to be healed of the blows the Arameans struck him with when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Jehu said, “If your soul is with me, let no runaway get out of the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.” 16 And Jehu mounted and rode and went down to Jezreel, because Joram king of Israel was being healed in Jezreel of the arrow wounds the Arameans shot into him at Ramoth in the war with Hazael king of Aram — for he was strong, a man of power. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. [f]

17 And the watchman went up on the tower at Jezreel and saw the dust Jehu made as he came, and he said, “I see dust.” And Joram said, “Take a rider and send him out to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” 18 And a rider on a horse went to meet them and said, “Thus says the king: Is it peace?” And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, and he has not come back.” [g]

19 And he sent out a second rider on a horse, and he came to him and said, “Thus says the king: Is it peace?” And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me.” 20 And the watchman reported, “He reached them, and he has not come back. And the driver is driving Jehu son of Nimshi, and he drives like a man out of his mind.” [h]

21 And Joram said, “Harness up.” And a man harnessed the chariot. And Joram king of Israel went out, and Ahaziah king of Judah, each in his own chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him in the plot of ground of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And when Joram saw Jehu he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And Jehu said, “What peace? Your mother Jezebel’s whoring is still going on, and her many sorceries.” [i] 23 And Joram turned his hands to flee and said to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” 24 And Jehu filled his hand with the bow and struck Joram between the arms, and the arrow went out through his heart, and he sank down on his knees. [j]

25 And Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Throw him into the plot of Naboth the Jezreelite’s field. For I remember — you and I riding in the chariot teams behind Ahab his father — when the Lord took up this burden against him and said, [k] 26 ‘Surely I saw the blood of Naboth yesterday, and the blood of his sons, says the Lord, and I will pay him back in this plot of ground, says the Lord.’ So now, pick him up and throw him into the plot, according to the word of the Lord.”

27 And Ahaziah king of Judah saw it and fled by the road to Beth-haggan. And Jehu chased after him and said, “Him too!” And a man struck him in his chariot at the going up to Gai, which is Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. [l] 28 And his servants carried him on the chariot and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb in the city of David. 29 And in the eleventh year of Joram king of Israel, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. [m]

30 And Jehu came to Jezreel. And Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and dressed her head finely and looked down through the window. † 31 And as Jehu was coming into the city, she said, “Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?” 32 And he lifted his face toward the window and saw her and said, “Who are you? Come down with me.” And two eunuchs looked down at him. [n] 33 And he said, “Roll her down.” And they rolled her down, and some of her blood was spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her. [o]

34 And Jehu went in and ate and drank, and he said, “See to this cursed woman now, and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” 35 And they went to bury her, and they found nothing of her but the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 And they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37 and the dead body of Jezebel will be like dung on the face of the field in the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say, “This is Jezebel.”’”