¹⁶ Bend your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to taunt the living God.

Chapter 9

Anointing of Jehu. ¹ Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins and carry this flask of oil to Ramoth-gilead.^{[a] 2} When you arrive there, search for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, and separate him from his companions, bringing him to an inner chamber. ³ Take the flask of oil and pour it on his head, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you as king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee, do not wait around.”

⁴ So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ When he arrived, the commanders of the army were sitting around. He said, “I have a message for you, commander.” Jehu said, “For which of us?” He answered, “For you, commander.”

⁶ Jehu got up and went into the house. He poured the oil on his head and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you as king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷ You are to wipe out the house of Ahab, your master, and take vengeance for the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all of the servants of the Lord that Jezebel has shed. ⁸ The entire house of Ahab must perish. Everyone who pees against the wall in Israel who belongs to Ahab must be cut off, whether he be slave or free. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ And as for Jezebel, the dogs will devour her on the Jezreel plot of ground. No one will bury her.’ ” Then he opened the door and fled.

¹¹ When Jehu came outside to the servants of his lord, one of them said to him, “Is everything all right? Why did this madman^[b] come to visit you?” He answered, “You know the man and the things he says.” ¹² They said, “That is not true. Tell us now what he said.” Jehu said, “He said this to me, ‘Thus says the Lord: I have anointed you as king over Israel.’ ”

¹³ Each of them quickly took his cloak and put it under him upon the stairs. They blew the trumpets and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”^[c]

¹⁴ The Murder of Joram. So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, plotted against Joram.

Joram and all of Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael, the king of Aram,