2 Kings, 9

1. The prophet Elisha called one of the guild prophets and said to him: "Gird your loins, take this flask of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

1. The prophet Elisha summoned a member of the prophetic brotherhood to him, 'Hitch up your clothes, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth in Gilead.

2. When you get there, look for Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Enter and take him away from his companions into an inner chamber.

2. When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Then, when you find him, tell him to get up and leave his companions, and take him into an inner room.

3. From the flask you have, pour oil on his head, and say, 'Thus says the LORD: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and flee without delay."

3. Take the flask of oil then and pour it over his head, and say, "Yahweh says this: I have anointed you king of Israel." Then open the door and flee as fast as you can.'

4. The young man (the guild prophet) went to Ramoth-gilead.

4. The young man left for Ramoth in Gilead

5. When he arrived, the commanders of the army were in session. "I have a message for you, commander," he said. "For which one of us?" asked Jehu. "For you, commander," he answered.

5. and when he arrived, found the senior officers of the army sitting together. 'I have a message for you, commander,' he said. 'For which of us?' asked Jehu. 'For you, commander,' he answered.

6. Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the young man poured the oil on his head and said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel.

6. Jehu then got up and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying, 'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "I have anointed you king of Yahweh's people, of Israel.

7. You shall destroy the house of Ahab your master; thus will I avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the other servants of the LORD shed by Jezebel,

7. You will strike down the family of Ahab your master, and I shall avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and all of Yahweh's servants, on Jezebel

8. and by all the rest of the family of Ahab. I will cut off every male in Ahab's line, whether slave or freeman in Israel.

8. and on the whole family of Ahab. I shall destroy every manjack of Ahab's family, fettered or free in Israel.

9. I will deal with the house of Ahab as I dealt with the house of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and with the house of Baasha, son of Ahijah.

9. I shall make the House of Ahab like the House of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah.

10. Dogs shall devour Jezebel at the confines of Jezreel, so that no one can bury her.'" Then he opened the door and fled.

10. As for Jezebel, the dogs will eat her in the field of Jezreel; no one will bury her." ' With this, he opened the door and made his escape.

11. When Jehu rejoined his master's servants, they asked him, "Is all well? Why did that madman come to you?" You know that kind of man and his talk, he replied.

11. Jehu came out to his master's officers. 'Is all well?' they asked him. 'Why did this madman come to you?' 'You know the fellow and how he talks,' he answered.

12. But they said, "Not at all! Come, tell us." So he told them what the young man had said to him, and finally, "Thus says the LORD: 'I anoint you king over Israel.'"

12. 'Evasion!' they cried, 'Come on, tell us.' He replied, 'He said this and that to me. He said, "Yahweh says this: I have anointed you king of Israel." '

13. At once each took his garment, spread it under Jehu on the bare steps, blew the trumpet, and cried out, "Jehu is king!"

13. Whereupon they all took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps; they sounded the trumpet and shouted, 'Jehu is king!'

14. Thus Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, formed a conspiracy against Joram. Joram, with all Israel, had been besieging Ramoth-gilead against Hazael, king of Aram,

14. Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi plotted against Jehoram. (At the time, Jehoram, with all Israel, was holding Ramoth in Gilead against an attack by Hazael king of Aram,

15. but had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle against Hazael, king of Aram. "If you are truly with me," Jehu said, "see that no one escapes from the city to report in Jezreel."

15. but King Jehoram had gone back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received from the Aramaeans while he was fighting against Hazael king of Aram.) 'If you agree,' Jehu said, 'let no one leave the town to go and take the news to Jezreel.'

16. Then Jehu mounted his chariot and drove to Jezreel, where Joram lay ill and Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come to visit him.

16. Jehu then mounted his chariot and left for Jezreel; Jehoram had taken to his bed there, and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to visit him.

17. The watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw the troop of Jehu coming and reported, "I see chariots." "Get a driver," Joram said, "and send him to meet them and to ask whether all is well."

17. The lookout posted on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu's troop approaching. 'I can see a body of men,' he shouted. Jehoram gave the order: 'Have a horseman sent to meet them and ask, "Is all well?" '

18. So a driver went out to meet him and said, "The king asks whether all is well." "What does it matter to you how things are?" Jehu said. "Get behind me." The watchman reported to the king, "The messenger has reached them, but is not returning."

18. The horseman went to meet Jehu and said, 'The king says, "Is all well?" ' 'What has it to do with you whether all is well?' Jehu replied. 'Fall in behind me.' The lookout reported, 'The messenger has reached them and is not coming back.'

19. Joram sent a second driver, who went to them and said, "The king asks whether all is well." "What does it matter to you how things are?" Jehu replied. "Get behind me."

19. The king sent a second horseman who reached them and said, 'The king says, "Is all well?" ' 'What has it to do with you whether all is well?' Jehu replied. 'Fall in behind me.'

20. The watchman reported, "The messenger has reached them, but is not returning. The driving is like that of Jehu, son of Nimshi, in its fury."

20. The lookout reported, 'He has reached them and is not coming back. The manner of driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi: he drives like a madman.'

21. "Prepare my chariot," said Joram. When they had done so, Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, set out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They reached him near the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.

21. 'Harness!' Jehoram cried; and they harnessed his chariot. Then Jehoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah, each in his chariot, set out to meet Jehu. They reached him in the field of Naboth of Jezreel.

22. When Joram recognized Jehu, he asked, "Is all well, Jehu?" "How can all be well," Jehu replied, "as long as the many fornications and witchcrafts of your mother Jezebel continue?"

22. As soon as Jehoram saw Jehu he asked, 'Is all well, Jehu?' 'What a question!' he replied, 'when all the while the prostitutions and countless sorceries of your mother Jezebel go on.'

23. Joram reined about and fled, crying to Ahaziah, "Treason, Ahaziah!"

23. At this, Jehoram wheeled and fled, saying to Ahaziah, 'Treason, Ahaziah!'

24. But Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow went through his heart and he collapsed in his chariot.

24. But Jehu had drawn his bow; he struck Jehoram between the shoulder-blades, the arrow went through the king's heart, and he sank down in his chariot.

25. Then Jehu said to his adjutant Bidkar, "Take him and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For I remember that when we were driving teams behind his father Ahab, the LORD delivered this oracle against him:

25. 'Pick him up,' Jehu said to Bidkar, his equerry, 'and throw him into the field of Naboth of Jezreel. Remember how, when you and I manned a chariot together behind Ahab his father, Yahweh pronounced this sentence against him,

26. 'As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,' says the LORD, 'I will repay you for it in that very plot of ground, says the LORD.' So now take him into this plot of ground, in keeping with the word of the LORD."

26. "This I swear. Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons -- Yahweh says this. And in this same field I shall requite you -- Yahweh says this." So pick him up, and throw him into the field, as Yahweh declared should happen!'

27. Seeing what was happening, Ahaziah, king of Judah, fled toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, "Kill him too!" And they pierced him as he rode through the pass of Gur near Ibleam. He continued his flight as far as Megiddo and died there.

27. When Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled along the Beth-ha-Gan road, but Jehu went in pursuit of him. 'Strike him down too,' he said. And they wounded him in his chariot at the slope of Gur, which is near Ibleam, and he took refuge in Megiddo, where he died.

28. His servants brought him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in the tomb of his ancestors in the City of David.

28. His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb in the City of David.

29. Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year of Joram, son of Ahab.

29. Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year of Jehoram son of Ahab.

30. When Jezebel learned that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel, she shadowed her eyes, adorned her hair, and looked down from her window.

30. When Jehu went back to Jezreel, Jezebel was told. She made up her eyes with mascara, adorned her head and appeared at the window.

31. As Jehu came through the gate, she cried out, "Is all well, Zimri, murderer of your master?"

31. As Jehu came through the gateway she said, 'How did Zimri get on after killing his master?'

32. Jehu looked up to the window and shouted, "Who is on my side? Anyone?" At this, two or three eunuchs looked down toward him.

32. Jehu looked up to the window and said, 'Who is on my side? Who?' And two or three officials looked down at him.

33. "Throw her down," he ordered. They threw her down, and some of her blood spurted against the wall and against the horses. Jehu rode in over her body

33. 'Throw her down,' he said. They threw her down and her blood spattered the walls and the horses; and Jehu rode over her.

34. and, after eating and drinking, he said: "Attend to that accursed woman and bury her; after all, she was a king's daughter."

34. He went in and ate and drank, then said, 'See to this accursed woman, and give her burial; after all, she was a king's daughter.'

35. But when they went to bury her, they found nothing of her but the skull, the feet, and the hands.

35. But when they went to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, feet and hands.

36. They returned to Jehu, and when they told him, he said, "This is the sentence which the LORD pronounced through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the confines of Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.

36. They came back and told Jehu, who said, 'This is the word of Yahweh which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite, "The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel in the field of Jezreel;

37. The corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung in the field in the confines of Jezreel, so that no one can say: This was Jezebel.'"

37. the corpse of Jezebel will be like dung spread on the fields, so that no one will be able to say: This was Jezebel." '