2 Kings 9

And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:

1Elisha was a prophet, someone who told people what God said. He called one of the young men training to be prophets. Elisha said, "Tuck your robe into your belt so you can run. Take this small jar of oil. Go to the town of Ramoth-gilead."

Note"Gird up thy loins" means tucking your long robe into your belt. People did this so they could walk or run fast.

2And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;

2"When you get there, look for Jehu. He is the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in and get him away from the other men. Take him into a back room by himself."

3Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

3"Then pour the oil from the jar on his head. Pouring oil on someone's head showed that God had chosen him. Say, 'This is what the LORD says: I have chosen you to be king over Israel.' Then open the door and run. Do not wait!"

4So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.

4So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.

5And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.

5When he got there, the army commanders were sitting together. He said, "I have a message for you, commander." Jehu asked, "For which one of us?" The young man said, "For you, commander."

6And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.

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

7And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy 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.

7"You must strike down the family of Ahab, your master. Ahab's wife Jezebel had God's prophets killed. She had many of the LORD's servants killed too. Now God will pay her back for their deaths."

8For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

8"Ahab's whole family will die. Every male in his family in Israel will be cut off. That includes servants and free men alike."

NoteThe old wording here, "him that pisseth against the wall," was simply an old way of saying "every male."

9And 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:

9"I will do to Ahab's family what I did to two other families. Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah were kings before. Their families were wiped out too."

10And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

10"Dogs will eat Jezebel's body on the land at Jezreel. No one will bury her." Then the young prophet opened the door and ran away.

11Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.

11Jehu went back out to the other officers. One of them asked, "Is everything all right? Why did that crazy man come to you?" Jehu said, "You know men like him. You know the way they talk."

12And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel.

12They said, "That is not true! Tell us what he said!" So Jehu answered, "He told me this and that. He said the LORD has chosen me to be king over Israel."

13Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.

13The men moved fast. Each one took off his coat. They spread the coats on the bare steps under Jehu. Then they blew a ram's horn and shouted, "Jehu is king!"

14So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.

14So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, made a secret plan against King Joram. Joram and all Israel's army had been guarding Ramoth-gilead. They were holding it against Hazael, the king of Aram.

15But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.

15But King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to get well. Soldiers from Aram had wounded him in the fight against their king Hazael. Jehu said, "If you really want me as king, let no one leave this city. No one must go and warn Jezreel."

16So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

16Then Jehu got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel. Joram was lying sick there. Ahaziah, the king of Judah, had come to visit him.

17And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?

17A watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu and his men coming and called out, "I see a group of soldiers!" Joram said, "Send a rider out to meet them. Have him ask if they come in peace."

18So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.

18So a man rode out on a horse to meet Jehu. He said, "The king asks, do you come in peace?" Jehu answered, "What do you know about peace? Get in line behind me." The watchman called out, "The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back."

19Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.

19So the king sent out a second rider. He said, "The king asks, do you come in peace?" Jehu answered again, "What do you know about peace? Get in line behind me."

20And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.

20The watchman called out again. "He reached them, but he is not coming back either. The driver drives like Jehu son of Nimshi. He drives like a wild man."

21And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

21Joram shouted, "Get my chariot ready!" So they got it ready. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out. Each man rode in his own chariot. They met Jehu on the land that had belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

22And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" Jehu answered, "How can there be peace? Your mother Jezebel worships false gods. She uses magic, and she does it again and again."

NoteThe old word "whoredoms" here means turning away from God to worship other gods.

23And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.

23Joram turned his chariot around and fled. He shouted to Ahaziah, "It is a trap, Ahaziah!"

24And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

24Jehu pulled his bow back with all his strength. He shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart. Joram slumped down in his chariot.

25Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;

25Jehu said to Bidkar, his officer, "Pick him up. Throw him on Naboth's field. Remember when you and I rode behind his father Ahab? The LORD spoke these hard words against Ahab that day."

26Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.

26"The LORD said, 'I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons. I will pay you back on this very piece of land.' So do what the LORD said. Pick Joram up and throw him on that land."

27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

27King Ahaziah of Judah saw this and fled up the road toward the garden house. Jehu chased him and shouted, "Shoot him too!" They shot him in his chariot on the hill of Gur, near Ibleam. He got as far as Megiddo and died there.

28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

28His servants carried his body by chariot to Jerusalem. They buried him in his own tomb, with the family who came before him. This was in the City of David.

29And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

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

30And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

30Jehu came to Jezreel, and Jezebel heard about it. She painted around her eyes and fixed her hair. Then she looked down from a window.

Note"Tired her head" does not mean she was tired. It means she fixed and decorated her hair.

31And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

31Jehu came in through the gate. Jezebel called down, "Do you come in peace, Zimri?" Zimri was a man long before who had killed his own king.

32And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

32Jehu looked up at the window and called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three palace servants looked down at him.

33And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

33Jehu shouted, "Throw her down!" So they threw her down. Her blood splashed on the wall and on the horses. The horses trampled her.

34And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

34Then Jehu went inside and ate and drank. He said, "Go and take care of that cursed woman. Bury her, because she was a king's daughter."

35And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

35But when they went out to bury her, they found almost nothing. Only her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands were left.

36Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:

36They came back and told Jehu. He said, "This is what the LORD said. He spoke it through his servant Elijah from Tishbe. Dogs will eat Jezebel's body on the land at Jezreel."

37And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

37"Her body will lie in that field like waste on the ground. No one will be able to say, 'This was Jezebel.'"