⁹ Then in the morning, when he went out, he stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. ^(A)It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck down all these?

Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah

¹⁴ Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (^(A)Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against ^(B)Hazael king of Syria, ^15 (C)but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, “If this is your decision, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” ¹⁶ Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram.

¹⁷ Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” ¹⁸ So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” ¹⁹ Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus the king has said, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” ²⁰ Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving ^(D)is like the driving of Jehu ^(E)the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹ Joram said, ^(F)“Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. ^(G)Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him ^(H)at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²² And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as ^(I)the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” ²³ Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” ²⁴ And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot.

⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while ^(A)I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and ^(B)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

³ Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before ^(A)his anointed. ^(B)Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me^[a] and I will restore it to you.”