[1] Then Eli'sha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and
said to him, "Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand,
and go to Ramoth-gilead. [2] And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the
son of Jehosh'aphat, son of Nimshi; and go in and bid him rise from among
his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. [3] Then take the flask of
oil, and pour it on his head, and say, `Thus says the LORD, I anoint you
king over Israel.' Then open the door and flee; do not tarry." [4] So the
young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. [5] And when he came,
behold, the commanders of the army were in council; and he said, "I have an
errand to you, O commander." And Jehu said, "To which of us all?" And he
said, "To you, O commander." [6] So he arose, and went into the house; and
the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, "Thus says the
LORD the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over
Israel. [7] And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I
may avenge on Jez'ebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood
of all the servants of the LORD. [8] For the whole house of Ahab shall
perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel.
[9] And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jerobo'am the son
of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'asha the son of Ahi'jah. [10] And the
dogs shall eat Jez'ebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury
her." Then he opened the door, and fled. [11] When Jehu came out to the
servants of his master, they said to him, "Is all well? Why did this mad
fellow come to you?" And he said to them, "You know the fellow and his
talk." [12] And they said, "That is not true; tell us now." And he said,
"Thus and so he spoke to me, saying, `Thus says the LORD, I anoint you king
over Israel.'" [13] Then in haste every man of them took his garment, and
put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet, and
proclaimed, "Jehu is king." [14] Thus Jehu the son of Jehosh'aphat the son
of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram with all Israel had been on
guard at Ramoth-gilead against Haz'ael king of Syria; [15] but King Joram
had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had
given him, when he fought with Haz'ael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, "If
this is your mind, 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 Ahazi'ah king of Judah had come down to visit
Joram. [17] Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he
spied 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 have you to do with
peace? Turn round 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 have you to do with peace? Turn
round and ride behind me." [20] Again the watchman reported, "He reached
them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of
Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously." [21] Joram said, "Make
ready." And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and
Ahazi'ah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu,
and met him 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 the harlotries and the sorceries of your mother Jez'ebel are
so many?" [23] Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahazi'ah,
"Treachery, O Ahazi'ah!" [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. [25] Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, "Take him
up, and cast him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite;
for remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how
the LORD uttered this oracle against him: [26] `As surely as I saw
yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons--says the LORD--I
will requite you on this plot of ground.' Now therefore take him up and
cast him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the LORD."
[27] When Ahazi'ah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of
Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, and said, "Shoot him also"; and they
shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he
fled to Megid'do, and died there. [28] His servants carried him in a
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, Ahazi'ah
began to reign over Judah. [30] When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jez'ebel heard
of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out of
the window. [31] And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, "Is it peace, you
Zimri, murderer of your master?" [32] And he lifted up his face to the
window, and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked out
at him. [33] He said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down; and some of
her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on
her. [34] Then he went in and ate and drank; and he said, "See now to this
cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter." [35] But when
they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the
feet and the palms of her hands. [36] When they came back and told him, he
said, "This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Eli'jah
the Tishbite, `In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of
Jez'ebel; [37] and the corpse of Jez'ebel shall be as dung upon the face of
the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is
Jez'ebel.'"
