2 Kings 9:14-29
Christian Standard Bible
14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.(A) Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against King Hazael of Aram. 15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king,[a] then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah
16 Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and King Ahaziah of Judah had gone down to visit Joram. 17 Now the watchman(B) was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s mob approaching and shouted, “I see a mob!”
Joram responded, “Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’” (C)
18 So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them but hasn’t started back.”
19 So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
20 Again the watchman reported, “He reached them but hasn’t started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi(D)—he drives like a madman.”
21 “Get the chariot ready!” Joram shouted, and they got it ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.(E) 22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?”
He answered, “What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and sorcery from your mother Jezebel?” (F)
23 Joram turned around and fled, shouting to Ahaziah, “It’s treachery,(G) Ahaziah!”
24 Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.(H) 25 Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite.(I) For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this pronouncement against him: 26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘so will I repay you on this plot of land’—this is the Lord’s declaration. So now, according to the word of the Lord, pick him up and throw him on the plot of land.”(J)
27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot him in his chariot[b] at Gur Pass near Ibleam,(K) but he fled to Megiddo(L) and died there.(M) 28 Then his servants carried him to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in his ancestors’ tomb in the city of David.(N) 29 It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.(O)
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2 Kings 9:14-29
International Standard Version
Joram (Also Known as Jehoram) is Assassinated(A)
14 Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat’s son Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi, had been conspiring against Joram while Joram and all the army of[a] Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael from Aram. (15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from wounds he had sustained from the Arameans when he had fought against King Hazael from Aram.) So Jehu concluded, “Since this is what you’ve decided,[b] then let no one get away, leave the city, and go report to Jezreel!” 16 Then Jehu rode by chariot to Jezreel, since Joram was recovering[c] there. King Ahaziah from Judah had come to visit Joram.
17 While the watchman was standing guard in the tower at Jezreel, he watched Jehu’s entourage arrive. So he called out, “I see a group arriving.”
Joram ordered, “Take a horseman, send him out to meet them, and have him ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’”[d]
18 So a horseman went out, greeted Jehu and said, “This is what the king said: ‘Have you come in peace?’”
But Jehu responded, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
The watchman reported, “The messenger arrived there, but he hasn’t returned.”
19 Then Joram sent out a second horseman, who went out to them and said, “This is what the king said: ‘Have you come in peace?’”
Jehu responded, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
20 The watchman reported to Joram, “He arrived there, but he hasn’t returned. Also, he drives like Nimshi’s son Jehu drives—irrationally!”
21 Joram replied, “Let’s begin our attack!” As soon as his chariot was prepared, both King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out, each in his own chariot, to fight against Jehu. They met together in the property that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.[e]
22 As soon as Joram noticed Jehu, he cried out, “Peace, Jehu?”
Jehu[f] replied, “What peace, given[g] your mother Jezebel’s prostitution and all of[h] her witchcraft?”[i]
23 Joram reined his horse[j] around to flee and cried out to Ahaziah, “Ahaziah! Treachery!” 24 But Jehu drew his bow with all of his strength, shooting Joram between his shoulder blades.[k] The arrow pierced his heart, and he collapsed in his chariot.
25 After this, Jehu called out to Bidkar, his third in command, “Pick up Joram’s body and throw it in the field, the property that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite, because you and I remember how when we were riding together in pursuit of his father Ahab, that the Lord pronounced this oracle[l] against him:
26 ‘This is what the Lord says, “I have certainly observed the blood of Naboth and his sons, and I will repay you on this property,” declares the Lord.’
“Therefore take the body and throw it in the field, just as the Lord said.”
King Ahaziah is Also Killed(B)
27 As soon as King Ahaziah of Judah observed this, he attempted to flee by the garden house road, but Jehu pursued him. At the ascent toward Gur which is near Ibleam, he ordered, “Shoot him in the chariot, too!”
Ahaziah fled to Megiddo, where he died. 28 Ahaziah’s servants transported the king’s body[m] by chariot to Jerusalem and buried it in his own sepulcher near his ancestors in the City of David. 29 Ahaziah had begun to reign over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of[n] Ahab’s son Joram.
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- 2 Kings 9:14 The Heb. lacks the army of
- 2 Kings 9:15 Lit. is your soul
- 2 Kings 9:16 Lit. lying
- 2 Kings 9:17 Lit. The peace; i.e. a general inquiry of welfare
- 2 Kings 9:21 Cf. 1 King 21:1-19
- 2 Kings 9:22 Lit. He
- 2 Kings 9:22 The Heb. lacks given
- 2 Kings 9:22 Lit. and many
- 2 Kings 9:22 Or sorcery; i.e. wielding power through demonic spirits
- 2 Kings 9:23 Lit. hands
- 2 Kings 9:24 Lit. his arms
- 2 Kings 9:25 Lit. burden; a prophetic message of solemn import
- 2 Kings 9:28 Lit. transported him
- 2 Kings 9:29 The Heb. lacks the reign of
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