Holman Christian Standard Bible

New Living Translation

1The prophet Elisha called one of the sons of the prophets and said, "Tuck your mantle under your belt, take this flask of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

1Meanwhile, Elisha the prophet had summoned a member of the group of prophets. “Get ready to travel,” he told him, “and take this flask of olive oil with you. Go to Ramoth-gilead,

2When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his colleagues, and take him to an inner room.

2and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends,

3Then, take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, 'This is what the LORD says: "I anoint you king over Israel."' Open the door and escape. Don't wait."

3and pour the oil over his head. Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you to be the king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run for your life!”

4So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.

4So the young prophet did as he was told and went to Ramoth-gilead.

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

5When he arrived there, he found Jehu sitting around with the other army officers. “I have a message for you, Commander,” he said. “For which one of us?” Jehu asked. “For you, Commander,” he replied.

6So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'I anoint you king over the LORD's people, Israel.

6So Jehu left the others and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the oil over Jehu’s head and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the LORD’s people, Israel.

7You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel--the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the LORD.

7You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my prophets and all the LORD’s servants who were killed by Jezebel.

8The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will eliminate all of Ahab's males, both slave and free, in Israel.

8The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel.

9I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.

9I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah.

10The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel--no one will bury her.'" Then the young prophet opened the door and escaped.

10Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at the plot of land in Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

11When Jehu came out to his master's servants, they asked, "Is everything all right? Why did this crazy person come to you?" Then he said to them, "You know the sort and their ranting."

11Jehu went back to his fellow officers, and one of them asked him, “What did that madman want? Is everything all right?” “You know how a man like that babbles on,” Jehu replied.

12But they replied, "That's a lie! Tell us!" So Jehu said, "He talked to me about this and that and said, 'This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.'"

12“You’re hiding something,” they said. “Tell us.” So Jehu told them, “He said to me, ‘This is what the LORD says: I have anointed you to be king over Israel.’”

13Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. They blew the ram's horn and proclaimed, "Jehu is king!"

13Then they quickly spread out their cloaks on the bare steps and blew the ram’s horn, shouting, “Jehu is king!” Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

14Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against Hazael king of Aram.

14So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, led a conspiracy against King Joram. (Now Joram had been with the army at Ramoth-gilead, defending Israel against the forces of King Hazael of Aram.

15But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram's King Hazael. Jehu said, "If you commanders wish to make me king, then don't let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel."

15But King Joram was wounded in the fighting and returned to Jezreel to recover from his wounds.) So Jehu told the men with him, “If you want me to be king, don’t let anyone leave town and go to Jezreel to report what we have done.”

16Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to visit Joram.

16Then Jehu got into a chariot and rode to Jezreel to find King Joram, who was lying there wounded. King Ahaziah of Judah was there, too, for he had gone to visit him.

17Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu's troops approaching and shouted, "I see troops!" Joram responded, "Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, 'Do you come in peace?"

17The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu and his company approaching, so he shouted to Joram, “I see a company of troops coming!” “Send out a rider to ask if they are coming in peace,” King Joram ordered.

18So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, "This is what the king asks: 'Do you come in peace?" Jehu replied, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." The watchman reported, "The messenger reached them but hasn't started back."

18So a horseman went out to meet Jehu and said, “The king wants to know if you are coming in peace.” Jehu replied, “What do you know about peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman called out to the king, “The messenger has met them, but he’s not returning.”

19So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, "This is what the king asks: 'Do you come in peace?'" Jehu answered, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me."

19So the king sent out a second horseman. He rode up to them and said, “The king wants to know if you come in peace.” Again Jehu answered, “What do you know about peace? Fall in behind me!”

20Again the watchman reported, "He reached them but hasn't started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi--he drives like a madman.""

20The watchman exclaimed, “The messenger has met them, but he isn’t returning either! It must be Jehu son of Nimshi, for he’s driving like a madman.”

21Harness!" Joram shouted, and they harnessed his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu at the plot of land of Naboth the Jezreelite.

21“Quick! Get my chariot ready!” King Joram commanded. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah rode out in their chariots to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of land that had belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

22When Joram saw Jehu he asked, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" He answered, "What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and witchcraft from your mother Jezebel?"

22King Joram demanded, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?” Jehu replied, “How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Jezebel, are all around us?”

23Joram turned around and fled, shouting to Ahaziah, "It's treachery, Ahaziah!"

23Then King Joram turned the horses around and fled, shouting to King Ahaziah, “Treason, Ahaziah!”

24Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

24But Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he sank down dead in his chariot.

25Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, "Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the LORD uttered this oracle against him:

25Jehu said to Bidkar, his officer, “Throw him into the plot of land that belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Do you remember when you and I were riding along behind his father, Ahab? The LORD pronounced this message against him:

26As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday--this is the LORD's declaration--'so will I repay you on this plot of land--this is the LORD's declaration. So now, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of land."

26‘I solemnly swear that I will repay him here on this plot of land, says the LORD, for the murder of Naboth and his sons that I saw yesterday.’ So throw him out on Naboth’s property, just as the LORD said.”

27When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, "Shoot him too!" So they shot him in his chariot at Gur Pass near Ibleam, but he fled to Megiddo and died there.

27When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled along the road to Beth-haggan. Jehu rode after him, shouting, “Shoot him, too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot at the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam. He was able to go on as far as Megiddo, but he died there.

28Then his servants carried him to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in his fathers' tomb in the city of David.

28His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem, where they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David.

29It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

29Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab. The Death of Jezebel

30When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from the window.

30When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window.

31As Jehu entered the gate, she said, "Do you come in peace, Zimri, killer of your master?"

31When Jehu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, “Have you come in peace, you murderer? You’re just like Zimri, who murdered his master!”

32He looked up toward the window and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked down at him,

32Jehu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, “Who is on my side?” And two or three eunuchs looked out at him.

33and he said, "Throw her down!" So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and Jehu rode over her.

33“Throw her down!” Jehu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves.

34Then he went in, ate and drank, and said, "Take care of this cursed woman and bury her, since she's a king's daughter."

34Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.”

35But when they went out to bury her, they did not find anything but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.

35But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.

36So they went back and told him, and he said, "This fulfills the LORD's word that He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh.

36When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, “This fulfills the message from the LORD, which he spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: ‘At the plot of land in Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel’s body.

37Jezebel's corpse will be like manure on the surface of the field in the plot of land at Jezreel so that no one will be able to say: This is Jezebel.'"

37Her remains will be scattered like dung on the plot of land in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to recognize her.’”

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.