9

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

¹And Elisha the prophet called one of ⚓the sons of the prophets, and said to him, ⚓“Get yourself ready, take this flask of oil in your hand, ⚓and go to Ramoth Gilead. ²Now when you arrive at that place, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among ⚓his associates, and take him to an inner room. 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 do not delay.”
⁴So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵And when he arrived, there were the captains of the army sitting; and he said, “I have a message for you, Commander.”
Jehu said, “For which one of us?”
And he said, “For you, Commander.” ⁶Then he arose and went into the house. And he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, ⚓“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷You shall strike down 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 all ⚓the males in Israel, both ⚓bond and free. ⁹So 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. ¹⁰⚓The dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ ” And he opened the door and fled.
¹¹Then Jehu came out to the servants of his master, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did ⚓this madman come to you?”
And he said to them, “You know the man and his babble.”
¹²And they said, “A lie! Tell us now.”
So he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ ”
¹³Then each man hastened ⚓to take his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king!”

Joram of Israel Killed

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against ⚓Joram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. ¹⁵But ⚓King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, “If you are so minded, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.” ¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was laid up there; ⚓and Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
¹⁷Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company of men.”
And Joram said, “Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
¹⁸So the horseman went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”
And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.”
So the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger went to them, but is not coming back.”
¹⁹Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”
And Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.”
²⁰So the watchman reported, saying, “He went up to them and is not coming back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!”
²¹Then Joram said, “Make ready.” And his chariot was made ready. Then ⚓Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him ⚓on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.
²²Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”
²³Then Joram turned around and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” ²⁴Now Jehu drew his bow with full strength and shot Jehoram between his arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. ²⁵Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him into the tract of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I were riding together behind Ahab his father, that ⚓the Lord laid this ⚓burden upon him: ²⁶‘Surely I saw 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 throw him on the plot of ground, according to the word of the Lord.”

Ahaziah of Judah Killed

²⁷But when Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled by the road to Beth Haggan. So Jehu pursued him, and said, “Shoot him also in the chariot.” And they shot him at the Ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to ⚓Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants carried him in the chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the City of David. ²⁹In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

Jezebel’s Violent Death

³⁰Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it;⚓and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. ³¹Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, ⚓“Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?”
³²And he looked up at the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. ³³Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. ³⁴And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for ⚓she was a king’s daughter.” ³⁵So 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 back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ⚓‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷and the corpse of Jezebel shall be ⚓as refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “Here lies Jezebel.” ’ ”

9

耶户被膏为以色列王

¹以利沙先知叫了一个先知的门徒来，吩咐他：“你束上腰，手拿这瓶膏油往基列的拉末去。 ²你到了那里，要在那里寻找宁示的孙子，约沙法的儿子耶户。你去，使他从弟兄中起来，带他进最里面的内室， ³把瓶里的膏油倒在他头上，说：‘耶和华如此说：我膏你作以色列王。’然后你就开门逃跑，不要等候。”
⁴于是那青年，那年轻的先知往基列的拉末去了。 ⁵他到了那里，看哪，众军官都坐着，就说：“长官，我有话对你说。”耶户说：“你要对我们哪一个说呢？”他说：“长官，我要对你说。” ⁶耶户就起来，进了内室，那青年把膏油倒在他头上，对他说：“耶和华－以色列的上帝如此说：‘我膏你作耶和华百姓以色列的王。 ⁷你要击杀你主人亚哈的全家，我好在耶洗别身上，为我仆人众先知和耶和华所有仆人的血伸冤。 ⁸亚哈全家都必灭亡，凡属亚哈的男丁，无论是奴役的、自由的，我必从以色列中剪除。 ⁹我必使亚哈的家像尼八儿子耶罗波安的家，又像亚希雅儿子巴沙的家。 ¹⁰至于耶洗别，狗必在耶斯列田里吃她，无人埋葬。’”于是那青年就开门逃跑了。
¹¹耶户出来，回到他主人的臣仆那里，有一人问他说：“平安吗？这疯狂的人为什么到你这里来呢？”他对他们说：“你们认得那人，也知道他在胡说。” ¹²他们说：“说谎！告诉我们吧。”他说：“他如此如此对我说：‘耶和华如此说：我膏你作以色列的王。’” ¹³他们各人就急忙把自己的衣服铺在台阶的上层，在耶户的下面；他们吹角，说：“耶户作王了！”

以色列王约兰被杀

¹⁴这样，宁示的孙子，约沙法的儿子耶户背叛了约兰。先前约兰和以色列众人因为亚兰王哈薛的缘故，把守基列的拉末。 ¹⁵后来约兰王回到耶斯列，医治他与亚兰王哈薛打仗时，被亚兰人击打所受的伤。耶户说：“若你们有这样的意思，就不要让人溜出城，到耶斯列去报信。” ¹⁶于是耶户驾战车往耶斯列去，因为约兰卧病在那里。犹大王亚哈谢已经下去看望他。
¹⁷有一个守望的人站在耶斯列的城楼上，看见耶户带着一队人来，就说：“我看见一队人。”约兰说：“派一个骑兵去迎接他们，问说：‘平安吗？’” ¹⁸骑兵就去迎接耶户，说：“王如此说：‘平安吗？’”耶户说：“平安不平安跟你有什么关系呢？转身跟在我后面吧！”守望的人说：“使者到了他们那里，却不回来。” ¹⁹王又派第二个骑兵去。这人到了他们那里，说：“王如此说：‘平安吗？’”耶户说：“平安不平安跟你有什么关系呢？转身跟在我后面吧！” ²⁰守望的人又说：“他到了他们那里，也不回来。车驾得很凶猛，好像宁示的孙子耶户在驾车。”
²¹约兰吩咐说：“套车！”人就给他套车。以色列王约兰和犹大王亚哈谢各坐自己的车出去迎接耶户，在耶斯列人拿伯的田那里遇见他。 ²²约兰见耶户就说：“耶户，平安吗？”耶户说：“你母亲耶洗别的淫行邪术这样多，怎么能平安呢？” ²³约兰用手转过车来逃跑，对亚哈谢说：“亚哈谢啊，反了！” ²⁴耶户全力拉弓，射中约兰两臂中间，箭从心窝穿出，约兰就仆倒在车上。 ²⁵耶户对他的军官毕甲说：“把他抛在耶斯列人拿伯的田里。你当记得，你我一同驾车跟随他父亲亚哈的时候，耶和华对亚哈说了预言， ²⁶耶和华说：‘我昨日看见拿伯的血和他众子的血，我发誓我必在这块田上报应你。’这是耶和华说的。现在你要照着耶和华的话，把他抛在这田里。”

犹大王亚哈谢被杀

²⁷犹大王亚哈谢看见了，就沿着伯．哈干的路逃跑。耶户追赶他，说：“把这人也击杀在车上，在靠近以伯莲的姑珥坡上⚓。”他逃到米吉多，就死在那里。 ²⁸他的臣仆用车把他的尸体运回耶路撒冷，与他祖先同葬在大卫城，他自己的坟墓里。
²⁹亚哈的儿子约兰第十一年，亚哈谢登基作了犹大王。

耶洗别王后被杀

³⁰耶户到了耶斯列。耶洗别听见了，就画眼影、梳头，从窗户往外观看。 ³¹耶户进了城门，耶洗别说：“杀主人的心利啊，平安吗？” ³²耶户向窗户抬头，说：“有谁顺从我？谁？”有两三个太监向外看他。 ³³耶户说：“把她抛下来！”他们就把她抛下来。她的血溅在墙上和马上，耶户践踏在她身上。 ³⁴耶户进去，吃了喝了，说：“你们去处理这被诅咒的妇人，埋了她，因为她是王的女儿。” ³⁵他们去了，要埋葬她，却只找到她的头骨和脚，以及手掌。 ³⁶他们回来报告耶户，耶户说：“这正应验耶和华藉他仆人提斯比人以利亚所说的话，说：‘在耶斯列田里，狗必吃耶洗别的肉， ³⁷耶洗别的尸体必在耶斯列田里的地面上如同粪土，甚至没有人可说：这是耶洗别。’”