rsv 2Kings:9-10 SEEK
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Then Eli '
sha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him , "
Gird up your loins ,
and take this flask of oil in your hand ,
and go to Ramoth-gilead .
*
And when you arrive ,
look there for Jehu the son of Jehosh '
aphat ,
son of Nimshi ;
and go in and bid him rise from among his fellows ,
and lead him to an inner chamber .
*
Then take the flask of oil ,
and pour it on his head ,
and say , `
Thus says the LORD ,
I anoint you king over Israel .'
Then open the door and flee ;
do not tarry ."
*
So the young man ,
the prophet ,
went to Ramoth-gilead .
*
And when he came ,
behold ,
the commanders of the army were in council ;
and he said , "
I have an errand to you ,
O commander ."
And Jehu said , "
To which of us all ?"
And he said , "
To you ,
O commander ."
*
So he arose ,
and went into the house ;
and the young man poured the oil on his head ,
saying to him , "
Thus says the LORD the God of Israel ,
I anoint you king over the people of the LORD ,
over Israel .
*
And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master ,
that I may avenge on Jez '
ebel the blood of my servants the prophets ,
and the blood of all the servants of the LORD .
*
For the whole house of Ahab shall perish ;
and I will cut off from Ahab every male ,
bond or free ,
in Israel .
*
And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jerobo '
am the son of Nebat ,
and like the house of Ba '
asha the son of Ahi '
jah .
*
And the dogs shall eat Jez '
ebel in the territory of Jezreel ,
and none shall bury her ."
Then he opened the door ,
and fled .
*
When Jehu came out to the servants of his master ,
they said to him , "
Is all well ?
Why did this mad fellow come to you ?"
And he said to them , "
You know the fellow and his talk ."
*
And they said , "
That is not true ;
tell us now ."
And he said , "
Thus and so he spoke to me ,
saying , `
Thus says the LORD ,
I anoint you king over Israel .'"
*
Then in haste every man of them took his garment ,
and put it under him on the bare steps ,
and they blew the trumpet ,
and proclaimed , "
Jehu is king ."
*
Thus Jehu the son of Jehosh '
aphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram . (
Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against Haz '
ael king of Syria ;
*
but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him ,
when he fought with Haz '
ael king of Syria .)
So Jehu said , "
If this is your mind ,
then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel ."
*
Then Jehu mounted his chariot ,
and went to Jezreel ,
for Joram lay there .
And Ahazi '
ah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram .
*
Now the watchman was standing 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 a horseman ,
and send to meet them ,
and let him say , `
Is it peace ?'"
*
So a man on horseback went to meet him ,
and said , "
Thus says the king , `
Is it peace ?'"
And Jehu said , "
What have you to do with peace ?
Turn round and ride behind me ."
And the watchman reported ,
saying , "
The messenger reached them ,
but he is not coming back ."
*
Then he sent out a second horseman ,
who came to them ,
and said , "
Thus the king has said , `
Is it peace ?'"
And Jehu answered , "
What have you to do with peace ?
Turn round and ride behind me ."
*
Again the watchman reported , "
He reached them ,
but he is not coming back .
And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi ;
for he drives furiously ."
*
Joram said , "
Make ready ."
And they made ready his chariot .
Then Joram king of Israel and Ahazi '
ah king of Judah set out ,
each in his chariot ,
and went to meet Jehu ,
and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite .
*
And when Joram saw Jehu ,
he said , "
Is it peace ,
Jehu ?"
He answered , "
What peace can there be ,
so long as the harlotries and the sorceries of your mother Jez '
ebel are so many ?"
*
Then Joram reined about and fled ,
saying to Ahazi '
ah , "
Treachery ,
O Ahazi '
ah !"
*
And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength ,
and shot Joram between the shoulders ,
so that the arrow pierced his heart ,
and he sank in his chariot .
*
Jehu said to Bidkar his aide , "
Take him up ,
and cast him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite ;
for remember ,
when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father ,
how the LORD uttered this oracle against him :
* `
As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons--says the LORD--I will requite you on this plot of ground .'
Now therefore take him up and cast him on the plot of ground ,
in accordance with the word of the LORD ."
*
When Ahazi '
ah the king of Judah saw this ,
he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan .
And Jehu pursued him ,
and said , "
Shoot him also ";
and they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur ,
which is by Ibleam .
And he fled to Megid '
do ,
and died there .
*
His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem ,
and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David .
*
In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab ,
Ahazi '
ah began to reign over Judah .
*
When Jehu came to Jezreel ,
Jez '
ebel heard of it ;
and she painted her eyes ,
and adorned her head ,
and looked out of the window .
*
And as Jehu entered the gate ,
she said , "
Is it peace ,
you Zimri ,
murderer of your master ?"
*
And he lifted up his face to the window ,
and said , "
Who is on my side ?
Who ?"
Two or three eunuchs looked out at him .
*
He said , "
Throw her down ."
So they threw her down ;
and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses ,
and they trampled on her .
*
Then he went in and ate and drank ;
and he said , "
See now to this cursed woman ,
and bury her ;
for she is a king '
s daughter ."
*
But when they went to bury her ,
they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands .
*
When they came back and told him ,
he said , "
This is the word of the LORD ,
which he spoke by his servant Eli '
jah the Tishbite , `
In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jez '
ebel ;
*
and the corpse of Jez '
ebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel ,
so that no one can say ,
This is Jez '
ebel .'"
*
Now Ahab had seventy sons in Sama '
ria .
So Jehu wrote letters ,
and sent them to Sama '
ria ,
to the rulers of the city ,
to the elders ,
and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab ,
saying ,
* "
Now then ,
as soon as this letter comes to you ,
seeing your master '
s sons are with you ,
and there are with you chariots and horses ,
fortified cities also ,
and weapons ,
*
select the best and fittest of your master '
s sons and set him on his father '
s throne ,
and fight for your master '
s house ."
*
But they were exceedingly afraid ,
and said , "
Behold ,
the two kings could not stand before him ;
how then can we stand ?"
*
So he who was over the palace ,
and he who was over the city ,
together with the elders and the guardians ,
sent to Jehu ,
saying , "
We are your servants ,
and we will do all that you bid us .
We will not make any one king ;
do whatever is good in your eyes ."
*
Then he wrote to them a second letter ,
saying , "
If you are on my side ,
and if you are ready to obey me ,
take the heads of your master '
s sons ,
and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time ."
Now the king '
s sons ,
seventy persons ,
were with the great men of the city ,
who were bringing them up .
*
And when the letter came to them ,
they took the king '
s sons ,
and slew them ,
seventy persons ,
and put their heads in baskets ,
and sent them to him at Jezreel .
*
When the messenger came and told him , "
They have brought the heads of the king '
s sons ,"
he said , "
Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning ."
*
Then in the morning ,
when he went out ,
he stood ,
and said to all the people , "
You are innocent .
It was I who conspired against my master ,
and slew him ;
but who struck down all these ?
*
Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD ,
which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab ;
for the LORD has done what he said by his servant Eli '
jah ."
*
So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel ,
all his great men ,
and his familiar friends ,
and his priests ,
until he left him none remaining .
*
Then he set out and went to Sama '
ria .
On the way ,
when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds ,
*
Jehu met the kinsmen of Ahazi '
ah king of Judah ,
and he said , "
Who are you ?"
And they answered , "
We are the kinsmen of Ahazi '
ah ,
and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother ."
*
He said , "
Take them alive ."
And they took them alive ,
and slew them at the pit of Beth-eked ,
forty-two persons ,
and he spared none of them .
*
And when he departed from there ,
he met Jehon '
adab the son of Rechab coming to meet him ;
and he greeted him ,
and said to him , "
Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours ?"
And Jehon '
adab answered , "
It is ."
Jehu said , "
If it is ,
give me your hand ."
So he gave him his hand .
And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot .
*
And he said , "
Come with me ,
and see my zeal for the LORD ."
So he had him ride in his chariot .
*
And when he came to Sama '
ria ,
he slew all that remained to Ahab in Sama '
ria ,
till he had wiped them out ,
according to the word of the LORD which he spoke to Eli '
jah .
*
Then Jehu assembled all the people ,
and said to them , "
Ahab served Ba '
al a little ;
but Jehu will serve him much .
*
Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Ba '
al ,
all his worshipers and all his priests ;
let none be missing ,
for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Ba '
al ;
whoever is missing shall not live ."
But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Ba '
al .
*
And Jehu ordered , "
Sanctify a solemn assembly for Ba '
al ."
So they proclaimed it .
*
And Jehu sent throughout all Israel ;
and all the worshipers of Ba '
al came ,
so that there was not a man left who did not come .
And they entered the house of Ba '
al ,
and the house of Ba '
al was filled from one end to the other .
*
He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe , "
Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Ba '
al ."
So he brought out the vestments for them .
*
Then Jehu went into the house of Ba '
al with Jehon '
adab the son of Rechab ;
and he said to the worshipers of Ba '
al , "
Search ,
and see that there is no servant of the LORD here among you ,
but only the worshipers of Ba '
al ."
*
Then he went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings .
Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside ,
and said , "
The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life ."
*
So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering ,
Jehu said to the guard and to the officers , "
Go in and slay them ;
let not a man escape ."
So when they put them to the sword ,
the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Ba '
al
*
and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Ba '
al ,
and burned it .
*
And they demolished the pillar of Ba '
al ,
and demolished the house of Ba '
al ,
and made it a latrine to this day .
*
Thus Jehu wiped out Ba '
al from Israel .
*
But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jerobo '
am the son of Nebat ,
which he made Israel to sin ,
the golden calves that were in Bethel ,
and in Daniel .
*
And the LORD said to Jehu , "
Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes ,
and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart ,
your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel ."
*
But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD the God of Israel with all his heart ;
he did not turn from the sins of Jerobo '
am ,
which he made Israel to sin .
*
In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel .
Haz '
ael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel :
*
from the Jordan eastward ,
all the land of Gilead ,
the Gadites ,
and the Reubenites ,
and the Manas '
sites ,
from Aro '
er ,
which is by the valley of the Arnon ,
that is ,
Gilead and Bashan .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Jehu ,
and all that he did ,
and all his might ,
are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel ?
*
So Jehu slept with his fathers ,
and they buried him in Sama '
ria .
And Jeho '
ahaz his son reigned in his stead .
*
The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Sama '
ria was twenty-eight years .
*
Now when Athali '
ah the mother of Ahazi '
ah saw that her son was dead ,
she arose and destroyed all the royal family .