2 Kings 9 - Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Jehu Anointed Prophetically to Rule in Place of Joram of Israel

9 Now Elisha the prophet called for one of the sons of the prophets, and he said to him, “Gird your loins, and take this flask of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead. ² Go there and look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi. Go, for you must cause him to arise from among his brothers, and you must bring him into an inner room.^{[a] 3} You must take the flask of olive oil and pour it out on his head. You must say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I hereby anoint you as king over Israel.”’ Then you must open the door and flee; do not linger!”

⁴ So the young man, servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-Gilead. ⁵ He came, and look, the commanders of the army were sitting there. He said, “I have a word for you, O commander!” Jehu said, “For whom? For all of us?” And he said, “For you, O commander!” ⁶ He got up and went to the house, and poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘I hereby anoint you as king over the people of Yahweh, over Israel. ⁷ You will destroy the house of Ahab your master, and you will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all of the servants of Yahweh, from the hand of Jezebel. ⁸ All of the house of Ahab will perish, and I shall cut off all males^[b] from Ahab, both bond and free. ⁹ I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰ The dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and there shall not be anyone to bury her.’”^[c] Then he opened the door and fled.

Jehu Assassinates Joram

¹¹ Then Jehu came out to the officers of his master, and they said to him, “Peace? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the man and his foolish talk.” ¹² Then they said, “Liar. Please tell us.” He said, “Thus and so^[d] he said to me, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I hereby anoint you as king over Israel.”’” ¹³ So they hastened each one to take his cloak, and they spread them under him on the bare steps, blew on the trumpet, and said, “Jehu is king!”

¹⁴ So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Now Joram was keeping guard in Ramoth-Gilead, he and all of Israel, because of the threat^[e] of Hazael king of Aram. ¹⁵ But Joram the king had returned to heal in Jezreel from the wound which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. Jehu said, “If this is what you want,^[f] do not let him go out as a fugitive from the city to go to make it known in Jezreel.” ¹⁶ Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there, and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to visit Joram. ¹⁷ Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu when he came, and he said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them.” And he said, “Is it peace?” ¹⁸ So the rider of the horse went out to meet him, and he said, “Thus the king asks, ‘Is it peace?’” Then Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace?^[g] Turn after me.” Then the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger went up to them, but he did not return.” ¹⁹ Then he sent out a second horseman, and he came to them and said, “Thus the king asks, ‘Is it peace?’” Then Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace?^[h] Turn after me.” ²⁰ So the sentinel reported, saying, “He went up to them, but he did not return, and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives with madness.”

²¹ Then Joram said, “Get ready,” so he got his chariot ready. Joram king of Israel went out, and Ahaziah king of Judah, each with his chariot. They went out to meet Jehu, and they found him at the tract of land of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²² When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is it peace?” And he said, “What peace is there while the prostitutions of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are numerous?” ²³ Joram turned his chariot^[i] and fled and said to Ahaziah, “It’s treason, Ahaziah!” ²⁴ Then Jehu drew his bow^[j] and shot Joram between his shoulders so that the arrow went out from his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot. ²⁵ He said to Bidkar his third servant, “Lift him out and throw him on the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for remember, you and I were with the pair of chariots behind Ahab his father when Yahweh pronounced this oracle against him: ²⁶ ‘“Since I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his children yesterday,” declares Yahweh, “I will requite it for you in this tract of land,” declares Yahweh.’ So then lift him out and throw him on the tract of land according to the word of Yahweh.”

Jehu Orders the Assassination of Ahaziah

²⁷ When Ahaziah king of Judah saw, he fled the way of Beth-Haggen. Jehu pursued after him and said, “Shoot him also, in the chariot.” They shot him at the ascent of Gur which is in Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo, but he died there. ²⁸ Then his officers carried him to Jerusalem, and they buried him in his tomb with his ancestors^[k] in the city of David. ²⁹ In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

Jezebel Loses Her High Position

³⁰ When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, so she painted her eyes with black eye paint and adorned her head and looked through the window. ³¹ Now Jehu had come in the gate, so she said, “Is it peace, O Zimri, murderer of his master?” ³² When he lifted up his face to the window, he asked, “Who is with me?” Two or three eunuchs looked down to him. ³³ So he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her. ³⁴ Then he came and ate and drank, and said, “Please take care of this cursed one and bury her, for she is the daughter of a king.” ³⁵ When they went to bury her, they could not find her, except the skull, the feet, and the palms of the hands. ³⁶ They returned and told him, and he said, “This is the word of Yahweh which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘On the plot of ground of Jezreel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.’” ³⁷ So the dead body of Jezebel became dung on the surface spread on the field in the plot of ground of Jezreel, so one cannot say, “This is Jezebel.”

Footnotes

1. 2 Kings 9:2 Literally “inner room of the inner room”
2. 2 Kings 9:8 Literally “the one who urinates against a wall”
3. 2 Kings 9:10 Literally “burying”
4. 2 Kings 9:12 Literally “As this and as this”
5. 2 Kings 9:14 Literally “from the face/presence of”
6. 2 Kings 9:15 Literally “If there is your soul”
7. 2 Kings 9:18 Literally “What is for you and for peace”
8. 2 Kings 9:19 Literally “What is for you and for peace”
9. 2 Kings 9:23 Literally “hand”
10. 2 Kings 9:24 Literally “filled his hand with the bow”
11. 2 Kings 9:28 Or “fathers”