2 Kings 9:1-16

Common English Bible

Jehu rules Israel

9 The prophet Elisha called to a member of the group of prophets, “Get ready, take this jug of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ² When you arrive there, look for Jehu, Jehoshaphat’s son and Nimshi’s grandson. Go to him, then pull him away from his associates, taking him to a private room. ³ Take the jug of oil and pour it on his head. Then say, ‘This is what the Lord has said: I anoint you king of Israel.’ Then open the door, and run out of there without stopping.”

⁴ So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ He came in, and the military commanders were sitting right there. He said, “Commander, I have a word for you.”

“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.

The young prophet said, “For you, Commander.”

⁶ So Jehu got up and went inside. The prophet then poured oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, over Israel. ⁷ You will strike down your master Ahab’s family. In this way I will take revenge for the violence done by Jezebel to my servants the prophets and to all the Lord’s servants. ⁸ Ahab’s whole family will die. I will eliminate from Ahab everyone who urinates on a wall, whether slave or free, in Israel. ⁹ I will make Ahab’s dynasty like the dynasty of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, and like the dynasty of Baasha, Ahijah’s son. ¹⁰ And as for Jezebel: The dogs will devour her in the area of Jezreel. No one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

¹¹ Jehu went out to his master’s officers. They said to him, “Is everything okay? Why did this fanatic come to you?”

Jehu said to them, “You know the man and the nonsense he talks.”

¹² “That’s a lie!” they said. “Come on, tell us!”

Jehu replied, “This is what he said to me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king of Israel.’”

¹³ Then each man quickly took his cloak and put it beneath Jehu on the paved steps.^[a] They blew a trumpet and said, “Jehu has become king!”

Jehu kills his enemies

¹⁴ Then Jehu, Jehoshaphat’s son and Nimshi’s grandson, plotted against Joram. Now Joram along with all of Israel had been guarding Ramoth-gilead against Aram’s King Hazael, ¹⁵ but King Joram^[b] had gone back to Jezreel to recover from wounds that the Arameans had given him when he fought Hazael. So Jehu said, “If this is the way you feel, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to talk about it in Jezreel.” ¹⁶ Then Jehu got on a chariot and drove to Jezreel because Joram was resting there. Judah’s King Ahaziah had also come to visit Joram.