Joram of Israel Killed

¹⁴ So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against ^(A)Joram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. ¹⁵ But ^(B)King ^[a]Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, “If you are so minded, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.” ¹⁶ So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was laid up there; ^(C)and Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

¹⁷ Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company of men.”

And Joram said, “Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, ^[b]‘Is it peace?’ ”

¹⁸ So the horseman went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”

And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? ^[c]Turn around and follow me.”

So the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger went to them, but is not coming back.”

¹⁹ Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”

And Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.”

²⁰ So the watchman reported, saying, “He went up to them and is not coming back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!”

²¹ Then Joram said, ^[d]“Make ready.” And his chariot was made ready. Then ^(D)Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and ^[e]met him ^(E)on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²² Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”

So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”

²³ Then Joram turned around and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” ²⁴ Now Jehu ^[f]drew his bow with full strength and shot Jehoram between his arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. ²⁵ Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him into the tract of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I were riding together behind Ahab his father, that ^(F)the Lord laid this ^(G)burden upon him: ²⁶ ‘Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the Lord, ^(H)‘and I will repay you ^[g]in this plot,’ says the Lord. Now therefore, take and throw him on the plot of ground, according to the word of the Lord.”

Ahaziah of Judah Killed^(I)

²⁷ But when Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled by the road to ^[h]Beth Haggan. So Jehu pursued him, and said, ^[i]“Shoot him also in the chariot.” And they shot him at the Ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to ^(J)Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸ And his servants carried him in the chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the City of David. ²⁹ In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

Jezebel’s Violent Death

³⁰ Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; ^(K)and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. ³¹ Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, ^(L)“Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?”

³² And he looked up at the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³ Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. ³⁴ And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for ^(M)she was a king’s daughter.” ³⁵ So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. ³⁶ Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ^(N)‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷ and the corpse of Jezebel shall be ^(O)as refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “Here lies Jezebel.” ’ ”

The Truth Shall Make You Free

³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you ^(A)abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the ^(B)truth, and ^(C)the truth shall make you free.”

³³ They answered Him, ^(D)“We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(E)whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And ^(F)a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ^36 (G)Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Abraham’s Seed and Satan’s

³⁷ “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but ^(H)you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every ^[a]precept to all the people according to the law, ^(A)he took the blood of calves and goats, ^(B)with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ^(C)“This is the ^(D)blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” ²¹ Then likewise ^(E)he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. ²² And according to the law almost all things are ^[b]purified with blood, and ^(F)without shedding of blood there is no ^[c]remission.

Greatness of Christ’s Sacrifice

²³ Therefore it was necessary that ^(G)the copies of the things in the heavens should be ^[d]purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For ^(H)Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are ^[e]copies of ^(I)the true, but into heaven itself, now ^(J)to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ not that He should offer Himself often, as ^(K)the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— ²⁶ He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ^27 (L)And as it is appointed for men to die once, ^(M)but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so ^(N)Christ was ^(O)offered once to bear the sins ^(P)of many. To those who ^(Q)eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.