Jehu Reigns 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 When you arrive there, ^[a]search out ^(E)Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and ^[b](F)bid him arise from among his brothers, and bring him to an inner room. ³ Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(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 servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said, “I have a word for you, O captain.” And Jehu said, “^[c]For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, O captain.” ⁶ He arose and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘^(I)I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. ⁷ You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, ^(J)that I may avenge ^(K)the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^(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 male person ^(O)both bond and free in Israel. ^9 (P)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)The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory 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 very well the man and his talk.” ¹² They said, “It is a lie, tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he said to me, ‘Thus says the Lord, “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!”

Jehoram (Joram) Is Assassinated

¹⁴ So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. ^(W)Now Joram ^[d]with all Israel was ^[e]defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram, ¹⁵ but ^(X)King ^[f]Joram had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had ^[g]inflicted on him 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 tell 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 ^[k]reported, “The messenger came to them, but he did not return.” ¹⁹ Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu ^[l]answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.” ²⁰ The watchman ^[m]reported, “He came even to them, and he did not return; and ^(AA)the driving is like the driving of ^(AB)Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹ Then ^[n]Joram said, “^[o]Get ready.” And they made his chariot ready. ^[p](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 ^[q](AD)property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²² When ^[r]Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he ^[s]answered, “What peace, ^(AE)so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” ²³ So ^[t]Joram ^[u]reined about and fled and said to Ahaziah, “^(AF)There is treachery, O Ahaziah!” ²⁴ And ^(AG)Jehu ^[v]drew his bow with his full strength and ^[w]shot ^[x]Joram between his arms; and the arrow went ^[y]through his heart and he sank in his chariot. ²⁵ Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Take him up and ^(AH)cast him into the ^[z]property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for I remember when ^[aa]you and I were riding together after Ahab his father, that the ^(AI)Lord laid this ^(AJ)oracle against him: ²⁶ ‘Surely ^(AK)I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the Lord, ‘and ^(AL)I will repay you in this ^[ab]property,’ says the Lord. Now then, take and cast him into the ^[ac]property, according to the word of the Lord.”

Jehu Assassinates Ahaziah

^27 (AM)When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him and said, “^[ad]Shoot him too, in the chariot.” So they shot him 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.

³⁰ When Jehu came to Jezreel, 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 ^[ae]well, Zimri, ^[af]your master’s murderer?” 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.

Jezebel Is Slain

³³ 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 When he came in, he ate and drank; and he said, “See now to ^(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 told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘^(AU)In the ^[ag]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 ^[ah]property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel.”’”

²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(A)A lamp is not brought to be put under a ^[a]basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? ^22 (B)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ^23 (C)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. ^[b](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. ^25 (E)For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

Parable of the Seed

²⁶ And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. ²⁸ The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the crop permits, he immediately ^[c](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (G)And He said, “How shall we ^[d](H)picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, ³² yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ^(I)the birds of the ^[e]air can nest under its shade.”

³³ With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; ³⁴ and He did not speak to them ^(J)without a parable; but He was ^(K)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Sea

^35 (L)On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” ^36 [f]Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them ^(M)in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. ³⁷ And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. ³⁸ Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And He got up and ^(N)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and ^[g]it became perfectly calm. ⁴⁰ And He said to them, “Why are you ^[h]afraid? ^(O)Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”