CHAPTER 9
1 Forsooth Elisha, the prophet, called one of the sons of prophets, and said to him, Gird thy loins, and take this vessel of oil in thine hand, and go into Ramoth of Gilead.
2 And when thou shalt come thither, thou shalt see Jehu, the son of Jehosh-aphat, the son of Nimshi; and thou shalt enter, and shalt raise him up from the midst of his brethren, and thou shalt lead him into an inner closet.
3 And thou shalt hold the vessel of oil, and thou shalt pour it on his head, and thou shalt say, The Lord saith these things, I have anointed thee into king upon Israel; and then thou shalt open the door, and shalt flee thence, and thou shalt not abide there.
4 Therefore the young waxing man, the child of the prophet, went into Ramoth of Gilead,
5 and entered thither. Lo! soothly the princes of the host sat there; and he said, O! prince, I have a word to thee. And Jehu said, To whom of all us? And he said, To thee, thou prince.
6 And he rose, and entered into the bed-closet. And that child poured the oil upon the head of him, and said, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, I have anointed thee into king on the people of the Lord, of Israel;
7 and thou shalt smite the house of Ahab, thy lord, that I avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, of the hand of Jezebel.
8 And I shall lose all the house of Ahab, and I shall slay of the house of Ahab a pisser to the wall, and the enclosed, and the last in Israel.
9 And I shall give or make the house of Ahab as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and as the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah.
10 Also dogs shall eat Jezebel in the field of Jezreel; and there shall be none that shall bury her. And the child opened the door, and fled.
11 And Jehu went out to the servants of his lord, which said to him, Whether all things be rightful? What came this mad man to thee? Which said to them, Ye know the man, and what he spake.
12 And they answered, It is false; but more rather tell thou us what he said. The which said to them, He spake these things and these to me, and said, The Lord saith these things, I have anointed thee king of Israel.
13 Therefore they hasted, and each man took his mantle, and putted [or put] under his feet by the likeness of a throne. And they sang with a trump, and said, Jehu shall reign.
14 Therefore Jehu, the son of Jehosh-aphat, the son of Nimshi, swore with others together against Joram*. For-sooth Joram had besieged Ramoth of Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael, king of Syria.
15 And Joram turned again to be healed in Jezreel for wounds that he had; for men of Syria had smitten him fighting against Hazael, king of Syria. And Jehu said, If it please you, let no man go out fleeing from the city, lest he go, and tell it in Jezreel.
16 And Jehu went up, and went forth into Jezreel; for Joram was sick there; and Ahaziah, king of Judah, came down to visit Joram.
17 Therefore an espyer, that stood above in a tower of Jezreel, saw the multitude of Jehu coming, and he said, I see a multitude. And Joram said, Take thou a chariot, and send it into the meeting of him; and say the goer, Whether all things be rightful?
18 Then he, that went upon the chariot, went into the meeting of Jehu, and said, The king saith these things, Whether all things be peaced? And Jehu said to him, What to thee and to peace? Pass thou from Joram, and pursue [or follow] me. And the espyer told to Joram, and said, The messenger came to them, and he turneth not again.
19 Also the king sent the second chariot of horses, and he came to them, and said, The king saith these things, Whether peace is with you? And Jehu said, What to thee and to peace? Pass thou forth, and pursue [or follow] me.
20 And the espyer told to Joram, and said, He came unto them, and he turneth not again; forsooth the going of the duke is as the going of Jehu, son of Nimshi; certainly he goeth fast.
21 And Joram said, Join ye up a chariot. And they joined up his chariot. And Joram, king of Israel, went out, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out, each in his chariot; and they went out into the meeting of Jehu, and they found him in the field of Naboth of Jezreel.
22 And when Joram had seen Jehu, he said, Jehu, is peace? And he answered, What peace? Yet the fornications, that is, idolatries, of Jezebel, thy mother, and many poisonings of her be in strength.
23 And Joram turned his hand, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, Treasons! treasons! Ahaziah.
24 Certainly Jehu bent a bow with his hand, and smote Joram betwixt the shoulders, and the arrow went out through his heart; and at once he felled [or fell] down in his chariot.
25 And Jehu said to Bidkar the duke, Take thou him away, and cast forth him in the field of Naboth of Jezreel; for I have mind, when I and thou sat in the chariot, and pursued [or followed] Ahab, his father, that the Lord raised on him this burden, and said,
26 If not for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his sons, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord, I shall yield to thee in this field, saith the Lord. Now therefore do thou away him, and cast forth him in the field, by the word of the Lord.
27 Forsooth Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this, and fled by the way of the house of the garden; and Jehu pursued him, and said, Also smite ye this man in his chariot. And men smote Ahaziah in the going up of Gur, that is beside Ibleam; and Ahaziah fled into Megiddo, and was dead there.
28 And his servants putted [or put] him on his chariot, and brought him into Jerusalem; and they buried him in a sepulchre with his fathers, in the city of David.
29 In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah reigned upon Judah.
30 And Jehu came into Jezreel. For-sooth when his entering was heard, Jezebel painted her eyes with ointment of lecherous women, and adorned her head; and she beheld by a window
31 Jehu entering by the gate, and she said, Whether peace may be to Zimri, that killed or slew his lord?
32 And Jehu raised up his face to the window, and said, What woman is this? And twain [or two] either three chamberlains bowed themselves to him, and said to him, This is that Jezebel.
33 And he said to them, Cast ye her down. And they casted down her; and the wall was besprinkled with her blood, and the hooves of horses, that treaded her.
34 And when he had entered to eat and drink, he said, Go ye, and see that cursed woman, and bury ye her, for she is a king’s daughter.
35 And when they had gone to bury her, they found not of her, no but the skull, and the feet, and the ends of her hands;
36 and they turned again, and told to him. And Jehu said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant, Elijah of Tishbe or Elijah the Tishbite, and said, Dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel in the field of Jezreel;
37 and the fleshes of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezreel, so that men passing forth thereby say, Lo! this is that Jezebel.
* CHAPTER 9:14 Also known as Jehoram.