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1The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of olive oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. | 1Elisha called one of the members of the Guild of Prophets and told him, "Get ready to run, take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. |
2When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. | 2As soon as you get there, go find Jehoshaphat's son Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi. When you do, go in, tell him to get up and go apart with you away from his brothers. Lead him into a private chamber, |
3Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, 'This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and run; don't delay!" | 3take the flask of oil, and pour it out on his head. Then tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: I'm anointing you king over Israel.' Then open the door and leave. Don't linger there!" |
4So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. | 4So the young man, who was an attendant to the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. |
5When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. "I have a message for you, commander," he said. "For which of us?" asked Jehu. "For you, commander," he replied. | 5When he arrived, the army commanders were seated, so he said, "I have a message for you, captain!" Jehu asked, "For which one of us?" "For you, captain!" he answered. |
6Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu's head and declared, "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 inside the house, and the young man told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD—that is, over Israel. |
7You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD's servants shed by Jezebel. | 7You are to attack the household of your master Ahab, so I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, as well as the blood of all of the servants of the LORD that has been spilled at Jezebel's orders. |
8The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel--slave or free. | 8The entire household of Ahab will die, and I will cut off from Ahab every male person in Israel, whether imprisoned or surviving. |
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 make the household of Ahab like the household of Nebat's son Jeroboam and the household of Ahijah's son Baasha. |
10As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.'" Then he opened the door and ran. | 10Furthermore, the dogs will eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel. There will be no burial for her.'" Then he opened the door and left. |
11When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, "Is everything all right? Why did this maniac come to you?" "You know the man and the sort of things he says," Jehu replied. | 11As Jehu was coming out to his master's attendants, one of them asked him, "Is everything all right? Why did this maniac visit you?" "You know the man and how he speculates," Jehu replied. |
12"That's not true!" they said. "Tell us." Jehu said, "Here is what he told me: 'This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.'" | 12"That's a lie!" they said. "Tell us what's going on!" "He said 'This and that' to me," he responded. "'This is what the LORD says: "I have anointed you king over Israel."'" |
13They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is king!" | 13At this, each man quickly grabbed his own garment, placed it under him at the top of the stairs, sounded a trumpet, and announced, "Jehu is king!" |
14So 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, | 14Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat's son Jehu, the grandson of Nimshi, had been conspiring against Joram while Joram and all the army of Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael from Aram. |
15but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, "If you desire to make me king, don't let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel." | 15King Jehoram had returned to Jezreel to recover from wounds he had sustained from the Arameans when he had fought against King Hazael from Aram. So Jehu concluded, "Since this is what you've decided, then let no one get away, leave the city, and go report to Jezreel!" |
16Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him. | 16Then Jehu rode by chariot to Jezreel, since Joram was recovering there. King Ahaziah from Judah had come to visit Joram. |
17When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu's troops approaching, he called out, "I see some troops coming." "Get a horseman," Joram ordered. "Send him to meet them and ask, 'Do you come in peace?'" | 17While the watchman was standing guard in the tower at Jezreel, he watched Jehu's entourage arrive. So he called out, "I see a group arriving." Joram ordered, "Take a horseman, send him out to meet them, and have him ask, 'Have you come in peace?'" |
18The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, "This is what the king says: 'Do you come in peace?'" "What do you have to do with peace?" Jehu replied. "Fall in behind me." The lookout reported, "The messenger has reached them, but he isn't coming back." | 18So a horseman went out, greeted Jehu and said, "This is what the king said: 'Have you come in peace?'" But Jehu responded, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." The watchman reported, "The messenger arrived there, but he hasn't returned." |
19So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, "This is what the king says: 'Do you come in peace?'" Jehu replied, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." | 19Then Joram sent out a second horseman, who went out to them and said, "This is what the king said: 'Have you come in peace?'" Jehu responded, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." |
20The lookout reported, "He has reached them, but he isn't coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi--he drives like a maniac." | 20The watchman reported to Joram, "He arrived there, but he hasn't returned. Also, he drives like Nimshi's son Jehu drives—irrationally!" |
21"Hitch up my chariot," Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. | 21Joram replied, "Let's begin our attack!" As soon as his chariot was prepared, both King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out, each in his own chariot, to fight against Jehu. They met together in the property that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. |
22When Joram saw Jehu he asked, "Have you come in peace, Jehu?" "How can there be peace," Jehu replied, "as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?" | 22As soon as Joram noticed Jehu, he cried out, "Peace, Jehu?" Jehu replied, "What peace, given your mother Jezebel's prostitution and all of her witchcraft?" |
23Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, "Treachery, Ahaziah!" | 23Joram reined his horse around to flee and cried out to Ahaziah, "Ahaziah! Treachery!" |
24Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. | 24But Jehu drew his bow with all of his strength, shooting Joram between his shoulder blades. The arrow pierced his heart, and he collapsed in his chariot. |
25Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, "Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the LORD spoke this prophecy against him: | 25After this, Jehu called out to Bidkar, his third in command, "Pick up Joram's body and throw it in the field, the property that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite, because you and I remember how when we were riding together in pursuit of his father Ahab, that the LORD pronounced this oracle against him: |
26Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the LORD, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.' Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the LORD." | 26This is what the LORD says, "I have certainly observed the blood of Naboth and his sons, and I will repay you on this property," declares the LORD.' "Therefore take the body and throw it in the field, just as the LORD said." |
27When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, shouting, "Kill him too!" They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. | 27As soon as King Ahaziah of Judah observed this, he attempted to flee by the garden house road, but Jehu pursued him. At the ascent toward Gur which is near Ibleam, he ordered, "Shoot him in the chariot, too!" Ahaziah fled to Megiddo, where he died. |
28His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. | 28Ahaziah's servants transported the king's body by chariot to Jerusalem and buried it in his own sepulcher near his ancestors in the City of David. |
29(In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.) | 29Ahaziah had begun to reign over Judah in the eleventh year of the reign of Ahab's son Joram. |
30Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. | 30As soon as Jehu arrived at Jezreel, Jezebel adorned her eyes, arranged her hair, and peered out a window. |
31As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, "Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?" | 31When Jehu had entered through the gate, she asked, "Was Zimri, who murdered his master, received well?" |
32He looked up at the window and called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. | 32Jehu looked up toward the window and called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" When two or three eunuchs looked out at him, |
33"Throw her down!" Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot. | 33he ordered, "Throw her down!" So they did, and her blood splashed against the wall and on the horses, while Jehu trampled her underfoot. |
34Jehu went in and ate and drank. "Take care of that cursed woman," he said, "and bury her, for she was a king's daughter." | 34Later on, after he had come in to eat and drink, he ordered, "Go and see to this cursed woman, and bury her, because she was a king's daughter." |
35But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. | 35But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing left of her except her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands. |
36They went back and told Jehu, who said, "This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh. | 36So they returned and reported to Jehu, and he responded, "This fulfills this message from the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the foreigner, who said: 'Dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh on the property of Jezreel, |
37Jezebel's body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, 'This is Jezebel.'" | 37and her corpse will lie like dung on the surface of the field on the property in Jezreel, but no one will say, "This is Jezebel."'" |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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