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2 Kings 9
Legacy Standard Bible

Jehu Anointed King over Israel

9 Now Elisha the prophet called one of (A)the sons of the prophets and said to him, “(B)Gird up your loins, and (C)take this flask of oil in your hand and go to (D)Ramoth-gilead. 2 And you will come there and look there for (E)Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi. And you will come in and [a](F)bid him arise from among his brothers. And you will cause him to come in to an inner room. 3 Then you will take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(G)I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door and flee and do not wait.”

4 So (H)the young man—the young man of the prophet—went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 Then he came, and behold, the commanders of the military were sitting, and he said, “I have a word for you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “[b]For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, O commander.” 6 And he arose and came into the house, and he poured the oil on his head and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(I)I have anointed you king over the people of Yahweh, even over Israel. 7 And you shall strike the house of Ahab your master, (J)that I may avenge (K)the blood of My slaves the prophets, and the blood of all the slaves of Yahweh, (L)at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and (M)I will cut off from Ahab (N)every [c]male person (O)both bond and free in Israel. 9 (P)And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and (Q)like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 10 (R)And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the [d]property of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.’” Then he opened the door and fled.

11 Now Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “(S)Is all well? Why did this (T)mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the man and his talk.” 12 And they said, “It is a lie, declare it to us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he said to me, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’” 13 Then (U)they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and (V)blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!”

Jehu Deceives Joram

14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (W)Now Joram [e]with all Israel was [f]guarding Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram, 15 but (X)King [g]Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had struck him with when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said, “If this is your mind, then let no one escape or [h]leave the city to go declare it in Jezreel.” 16 Then Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there. (Y)Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the [i]company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a [j]company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” 18 So a horseman went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu said, “(Z)What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.” And the watchman declared saying, “The messenger came to them, but he did not return.” 19 Then he sent out a second horseman. And he came to them and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu [k]answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.” 20 And the watchman declared saying, “He came up to them, but he did not return; and (AA)the driving is like the driving of (AB)Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives in madness.”

21 Then [l]Joram said, “[m]Get ready.” And they made his chariot ready. [n](AC)Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him in the [o](AD)property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 Now it happened that when [p]Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he [q]answered, “What peace, (AE)so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?” 23 So [r]Joram [s]turned about and fled and said to Ahaziah, “(AF)There is deception, O Ahaziah!” 24 And (AG)Jehu [t]drew his bow with his full strength and struck [u]Joram between his arms; and the arrow went [v]through his heart and he crouched down in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Lift him up and (AH)cast him into the [w]property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for I remember when [x]you and I were riding together after Ahab his father, that (AI)Yahweh lifted up this (AJ)oracle against him: 26 ‘Surely (AK)I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says Yahweh, ‘and (AL)I will repay you in this [y]property,’ says Yahweh. So now, lift him up and cast him into the [z]property, according to the word of Yahweh.”

Jehu Strikes Down Ahaziah

27 (AM)And Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this and fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him and said, “Strike him down too, in the chariot.” So they struck him down at the ascent of Gur, which is at (AN)Ibleam. But he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 (AO)Then his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his grave with his fathers in the city of David.

29 Now in (AP)the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.

Jezebel Is Eaten by Dogs

30 Then Jehu came to Jezreel, and Jezebel heard of it and (AQ)she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “(AR)Is it [aa]peace, Zimri, [ab]your master’s killer?” 32 Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three officials looked down at him. 33 And he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot. 34 Then he came in and ate and drank. And he said, “Take care now of (AS)this cursed woman and bury her, for (AT)she is a king’s daughter.” 35 They went to bury her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they returned and declared it to him. And he said, “This is the word of Yahweh, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘(AU)In the [ac]property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and (AV)the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the [ad]property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.”’”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 9:2 Lit cause him to
  2. 2 Kings 9:5 Lit To whom of us all?
  3. 2 Kings 9:8 Lit him who urinates against the wall, cf. 1 Sam 25:22, 34; 1 Kin 14:10, 21:21; 2 Kin 9:8
  4. 2 Kings 9:10 Lit portion
  5. 2 Kings 9:14 Lit he and
  6. 2 Kings 9:14 Lit keeping
  7. 2 Kings 9:15 Heb Jehoram
  8. 2 Kings 9:15 Lit go out from
  9. 2 Kings 9:17 Lit multitude
  10. 2 Kings 9:17 Lit multitude
  11. 2 Kings 9:19 Lit said
  12. 2 Kings 9:21 Heb Jehoram
  13. 2 Kings 9:21 Lit Yoke the chariot
  14. 2 Kings 9:21 Heb Jehoram
  15. 2 Kings 9:21 Lit portion
  16. 2 Kings 9:22 Heb Jehoram
  17. 2 Kings 9:22 Lit said
  18. 2 Kings 9:23 Heb Jehoram
  19. 2 Kings 9:23 Lit turned his hands
  20. 2 Kings 9:24 Lit filled his hand with the bow
  21. 2 Kings 9:24 Heb Jehoram
  22. 2 Kings 9:24 Lit out at
  23. 2 Kings 9:25 Lit portion
  24. 2 Kings 9:25 Lit I and you
  25. 2 Kings 9:26 Lit portion
  26. 2 Kings 9:26 Lit portion
  27. 2 Kings 9:31 Or well
  28. 2 Kings 9:31 Lit his
  29. 2 Kings 9:36 Lit portion
  30. 2 Kings 9:37 Lit portion
Close NLT

2 Kings 9
New Living Translation

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

9 Meanwhile, Elisha the prophet had summoned a member of the group of prophets. “Get ready to travel,”[a] he told him, “and take this flask of olive oil with you. Go to Ramoth-gilead, 2 and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends, 3 and pour the oil over his head. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you to be the king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run for your life!”

4 So the young prophet did as he was told and went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 When he arrived there, he found Jehu sitting around with the other army officers. “I have a message for you, Commander,” he said.

“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.

“For you, Commander,” he replied.

6 So Jehu left the others and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the oil over Jehu’s head and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. 7 You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by Jezebel. 8 The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. 9 I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at the plot of land in Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

11 Jehu went back to his fellow officers, and one of them asked him, “What did that madman want? Is everything all right?”

“You know how a man like that babbles on,” Jehu replied.

12 “You’re hiding something,” they said. “Tell us.”

So Jehu told them, “He said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have anointed you to be king over Israel.’”

13 Then they quickly spread out their cloaks on the bare steps and blew the ram’s horn, shouting, “Jehu is king!”

Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, led a conspiracy against King Joram. (Now Joram had been with the army at Ramoth-gilead, defending Israel against the forces of King Hazael of Aram. 15 But King Joram[b] was wounded in the fighting and returned to Jezreel to recover from his wounds.) So Jehu told the men with him, “If you want me to be king, don’t let anyone leave town and go to Jezreel to report what we have done.”

16 Then Jehu got into a chariot and rode to Jezreel to find King Joram, who was lying there wounded. King Ahaziah of Judah was there, too, for he had gone to visit him. 17 The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company approaching, so he shouted to Joram, “I see a company of troops coming!”

“Send out a rider to ask if they are coming in peace,” King Joram ordered.

18 So a horseman went out to meet Jehu and said, “The king wants to know if you are coming in peace.”

Jehu replied, “What do you know about peace? Fall in behind me!”

The watchman called out to the king, “The messenger has met them, but he’s not returning.”

19 So the king sent out a second horseman. He rode up to them and said, “The king wants to know if you come in peace.”

Again Jehu answered, “What do you know about peace? Fall in behind me!”

20 The watchman exclaimed, “The messenger has met them, but he isn’t returning either! It must be Jehu son of Nimshi, for he’s driving like a madman.”

21 “Quick! Get my chariot ready!” King Joram commanded.

Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah rode out in their chariots to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of land that had belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. 22 King Joram demanded, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?”

Jehu replied, “How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Jezebel, are all around us?”

23 Then King Joram turned the horses around[c] and fled, shouting to King Ahaziah, “Treason, Ahaziah!” 24 But Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he sank down dead in his chariot.

25 Jehu said to Bidkar, his officer, “Throw him into the plot of land that belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Do you remember when you and I were riding along behind his father, Ahab? The Lord pronounced this message against him: 26 ‘I solemnly swear that I will repay him here on this plot of land, says the Lord, for the murder of Naboth and his sons that I saw yesterday.’ So throw him out on Naboth’s property, just as the Lord said.”

27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled along the road to Beth-haggan. Jehu rode after him, shouting, “Shoot him, too!” So they shot Ahaziah[d] in his chariot at the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam. He was able to go on as far as Megiddo, but he died there. 28 His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem, where they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. 29 Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab.

The Death of Jezebel

30 When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window. 31 When Jehu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, “Have you come in peace, you murderer? You’re just like Zimri, who murdered his master!”[e]

32 Jehu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, “Who is on my side?” And two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33 “Throw her down!” Jehu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves.

34 Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.” 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.

36 When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, “This fulfills the message from the Lord, which he spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: ‘At the plot of land in Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel’s body. 37 Her remains will be scattered like dung on the plot of land in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to recognize her.’”

Footnotes

  1. 9:1 Hebrew Bind up your loins.
  2. 9:15 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant spelling of Joram; also in 9:17, 21, 22, 23, 24.
  3. 9:23 Hebrew turned his hands.
  4. 9:27 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew lacks So they shot Ahaziah.
  5. 9:31 See 1 Kgs 16:9-10, where Zimri killed his master, King Elah.
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