Jehu Anointed King of Israel

1And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead:

2And when you come there, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and take him to an inner chamber;

3Then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

4So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.

5And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting; and he said, I have a message to you, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of us? And he said, To you, O captain.

6And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.

7And 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.

8For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond and free that is left in Israel:

9And 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:

10And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

11Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? why came this mad fellow to you? And he said unto them, You know the man, and his communication.

12And they said, That is not true; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying, Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over Israel.

13Then 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.

Jehu Kills Joram

14So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had defended Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria.

15But king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this is your mind, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.

16So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

17And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw 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?

18So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? turn you behind me. And the watchman reported, saying, The messenger came to them, but he comes not back again.

19Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus says the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What have you to do with peace? turn you behind me.

20And the watchman reported, saying, He came even unto them, and comes not back: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.

21And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

22And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

23And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.

24And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and struck Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

25Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take him up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and you rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;

26Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says the LORD; and I will repay you in this plot, says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD.

Jehu Kills Ahaziah

27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Shoot him also in the chariot. And they did so at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David.

29And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

Jezebel Killed

30And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and adorned her head, and looked out at a window.

31And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

32And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

33And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot.

34And when he had come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.

35And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

36Therefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the territory of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:

37And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as refuse upon the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.