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¹ THEN Elisha 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 Ramath-gilead;² And when you get there, look for Jehu the son of Jimshi, and go in and make him arise up from among his brethren, and bring him into an inner chamber;³ Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head, and say to him, Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over my people Israel. Then open the door and flee, and do not tarry.⁴ So the young prophet went to Ramath-gilead.⁵ And when he came in, behold, the commanders of the army were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to you, O commander. And Jehu said, To which of us? And he said to him, To you, O commander.⁶ And he arose and went into an inner chamber; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.⁷ And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.⁸ For I will destroy the whole house of Ahab, and I will cut off from Ahab every male and every one in authority in Israel;⁹ And 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 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the inheritance of Naboth in Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.

¹¹ Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord; and they said to him, Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you? And he said to them, You know the man, and his folly.¹² And they said to him, You are lying; tell us now. And he said to them, Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, Thus says the LORD: I have anointed you king over Israel.¹³ Then they hastened and took every man his garment and put it under him on the top of the stairs and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.¹⁴ So Jehu the son of Jimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was holding Ramath-gilead, he and all Israel with him because of Hazael king of Aram.¹⁵ But King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Hazael king of Aram.) And Jehu said, If it please you, let no one go forth nor escape out of the city to tell it in Jezreel.

¹⁶ So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram the son of Ahab who was sick in Jezreel.¹⁷ And the watchman was standing on the tower of Jezreel, and he saw the chariot of Jehu as it was coming, and the watchman said, I see chariots. And Joram said, Take a chariot and send it to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?¹⁸ So there went a horseman to meet him and said to him, Thus says the king: Is it peace? And Jehu said. What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman told, saying, 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 answered, What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me.²⁰ And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he did not return; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Jimshi; for he drives furiously.²¹ And Joram said, Make ready. And they made ready chariots. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went to meet Jehu and they met him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.²² And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And Jehu answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?²³ Then Joram turned back and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah!²⁴ And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Joram in his back, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot.²⁵ Then Jehu said to Bar-dekar his mighty man, Take him up, and cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for I remember how when you and I were driving together after Ahab his father, and the LORD said this thing against him;²⁶ Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, says the LORD; and I will requite you in this field, says the LORD. Now therefore take him up and cast him into the field, according to the word of the LORD. So they cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.²⁷ But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu pursued him, and said, Slay him also, and they slew him in his chariot at the ascent of the mound, which is by Nebleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.²⁸ And his servants took him and carried him (in a chariot) to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.²⁹ And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

³⁰ And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyelids with kohl, and adorned her head, and looked out a window.³¹ And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of his master?³² And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? And there looked out at him two or three eunuchs.³³ And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and the horses entered and trod her under foot.³⁴ Then he went in to eat and drink, and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a kings daughter.³⁵ And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than her skull and her feet and the palms of her hands.³⁶ And when they returned, they told him, and he said, This is the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the field of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel;³⁷ And the corpse of Jezebel shall be as refuse upon the face of the field of Jezreel; and there will be none to bury her, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.