| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 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, | 1Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead. |
| 2and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends, | 2When you arrive, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his companions, and take him to an inner room. |
| 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!” | 3Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and declare, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run. Do not delay!” |
| 4So the young prophet did as he was told and went to Ramoth-gilead. | 4So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead, |
| 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. | 5and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said. “For which of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander,” he replied. |
| 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. | 6So Jehu got up and went into the house, where the young prophet poured the oil on his head and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel. |
| 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. | 7And you are to strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD shed by the hand of Jezebel. |
| 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. | 8The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both slave and free, in Israel. |
| 9I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah. | 9I will make the house of Ahab like the houses of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. |
| 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. | 10And on the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour Jezebel, and there will be no one to bury her.’ ” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran. |
| 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. | 11When Jehu went out to the servants of his master, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?” “You know his kind and their babble,” he replied. |
| 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.’” | 12“That is a lie!” they said. “Tell us now!” So Jehu answered, “He talked to me about this and that, and he said, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ ” |
| 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 | 13Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!” |
| 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. | 14Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram, |
| 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.” | 15but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had suffered at the hands of the Arameans in the battle against Hazael their king.) So Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then do not let anyone escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.” |
| 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. | 16Then Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel, because Joram was laid up there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him. |
| 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. | 17Now the watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, and he called out, “I see a company of troops!” “Choose a rider,” Joram commanded. “Send him out to meet them and ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’ ” |
| 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.” | 18So a horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’ ” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” |
| 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!” | 19So the king sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’ ” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.” |
| 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.” | 20Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the charioteer is driving like Jehu son of Nimshi—he is driving like a madman!” |
| 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. | 21“Harness!” 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 on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. |
| 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?” | 22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?” |
| 23Then King Joram turned the horses around and fled, shouting to King Ahaziah, “Treason, Ahaziah!” | 23Joram turned around and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” |
| 24But Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he sank down dead in his chariot. | 24Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot. |
| 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: | 25And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, the LORD lifted up this burden against him: |
| 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.” | 26‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.” |
| 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. | 27When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there. |
| 28His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem, where they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. | 28Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David. |
| 29Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab. The Death of Jezebel | 29(In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.) |
| 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. | 30Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window. |
| 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!” | 31And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?” |
| 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. | 32He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him. |
| 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. | 33“Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot. |
| 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.” | 34Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.” |
| 35But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands. | 35But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands. |
| 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. | 36So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of 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.’” | 37And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’ ” |
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