2 Kings 9-13

II Kings 9

¹And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead.

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

³then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head and say, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel; and open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

⁴And the young man, 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, captain. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To thee, captain.

⁶And he rose up and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, over Israel.

⁷And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master; and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah at the hand of Jezebel.

⁸And the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel.

⁹And I will make the house of Ahab as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and as the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.

¹⁰And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the plot of Jizreel, and none shall bury her. And he opened the door and fled.

¹¹And Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord. And one said to him, Is all well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them, Ye know the man, and his mind.

¹²And they said, It is false! tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spoke he to me saying, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel.

¹³Then they hasted and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the very stairs, and blew with trumpets, and said, Jehu is king!

¹⁴And Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram kept Ramoth-Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;

¹⁵and king Joram had returned to be healed in Jizreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your will, let not a fugitive escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jizreel.

¹⁶And Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jizreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

¹⁷And the watchman stood on the tower in Jizreel, and saw Jehu's company 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?

¹⁸So there went one on horseback to meet him; and he 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, and he does not return.

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

²⁰And the watchman told saying, He came to them, and does not return. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.

²¹Then Joram said, Make ready! And they made ready his chariot. And 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 in the plot of Naboth the Jizreelite.

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

²³Then Joram turned his hand, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, Treachery, Ahaziah!

²⁴And Jehu took his bow in his hand, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out through his heart; and he sank down in his chariot.

²⁵And he said to Bidkar his captain, Take him up and cast him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jizreelite. For remember how, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, that Jehovah laid this burden upon him:

²⁶Certainly I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith Jehovah; and I will requite thee in this plot, saith Jehovah. And now, take and cast him into the plot, according to the word of Jehovah.

²⁷When Ahaziah king of Judah saw that, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in his chariot. It was on the ascent of Gur, which is by Jibleam. And he fled to 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.

²⁹(And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab had Ahaziah begun to reign over Judah.)

³⁰And Jehu came to Jizreel; and Jezebel heard of it, and she put paint to her eyes, and decked her head, and looked out at the window.

³¹And when Jehu came in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?

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

³³And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trampled on her.

³⁴And he came in, and ate and drank; and he said, Go, look, I pray you, after this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is 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 the hands.

³⁶And they came back and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying, In the plot of Jizreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel;

³⁷and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the open field in the plot of Jizreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

II Kings 10

¹Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jizreel, to the elders, and to Ahab's guardians, saying,

²And now, when this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots, and horses, and a fortified city, and armour,

³look out the best and worthiest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

⁴And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand?

⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, and the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any one king; do what is good in thy sight.

⁶And he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If ye are mine, and will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jizreel to-morrow at this time. Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

⁷And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel.

⁸And a messenger came and told him saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

⁹And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these?

¹⁰Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah.

¹¹And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

¹²And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds' meeting-place on the way,

¹³Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.

¹⁴And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining.

¹⁵And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. -- If it be, give me thy hand. -- And he gave him his hand; and Jehu took him up to him into the chariot,

¹⁶and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah.

¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much.

¹⁹And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal.

²⁰And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

²¹And Jehu sent into all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not: and they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other.

²²And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

²³And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the servants of Baal only.

²⁴And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him.

²⁵And it came to pass as soon as they had ended offering up the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the couriers and to the captains, Go in, slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the couriers and the captains cast them there. And they went to the city of the house of Baal,

²⁶and brought forth the columns out of the house of Baal, and burned them;

²⁷and they broke down the column of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house to this day.

²⁸Thus Jehu extirpated Baal out of Israel.

²⁹Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: from the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

³⁰And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

³¹But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.

³²In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel;

³³from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, both Gilead and Bashan.

³⁴And 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?

³⁵And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

³⁶Now the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

II Kings 11

¹And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose up and destroyed all the royal seed.

²But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and hid him and his nurse in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

³And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains of the hundreds, of the bodyguard and the couriers, and brought them to him into the house of Jehovah, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah, and shewed them the king's son.

⁵And he commanded them saying, This is the thing which ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king's house;

⁶and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the couriers; and ye shall keep the watch of the house for a defence.

⁷And the two parts of you, all those that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king.

⁸And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.

⁹And the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go forth on the sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁰And the priest gave to the captains of the hundreds king David's spears and shields which were in the house of Jehovah.

¹¹And the couriers stood by the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, toward the altar and the house.

¹²And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king!

¹³And Athaliah heard the noise of the couriers and of the people; and she came to the people into the house of Jehovah.

¹⁴And she looked, and behold, the king stood on the dais, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. And Athaliah rent her garments and cried, Conspiracy! Conspiracy!

¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, slay with the sword; for the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of Jehovah.

¹⁶And they made way for her, and she went by the way by which the horses entered the king's house, and there was she put to death.

¹⁷And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be the people of Jehovah; and between the king and the people.

¹⁸Then all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down: his altars and his images they broke in pieces completely, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of Jehovah.

¹⁹And he took the captains of the hundreds, and the bodyguard, and the couriers, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way through the gate of the couriers into the king's house. And he sat upon the throne of the kings.

²⁰And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they had slain Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house.

²¹Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

II Kings 12

¹In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

²And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, all the days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

³Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the money of every one that passes the account, the money at which every man is valued, and all the money that comes into any man's heart to bring into the house of Jehovah,

⁵let the priests take it, every man of his acquaintance; and let them repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach is found.

⁶And it was so that in the twenty-third year of king Jehoash, the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

⁷Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have ye not repaired the breaches of the house? And now receive no money of your acquaintances, but give it for the breaches of the house.

⁸And the priests consented to receive no money of the people, and that they should only repair the breaches of the house.

⁹And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Jehovah; and the priests that kept the door put into it all the money brought into the house of Jehovah.

¹⁰And it came to pass when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they tied up and counted the money that was found in the house of Jehovah.

¹¹And they gave the money, weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, who were appointed over the house of Jehovah; and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders that wrought upon the house of Jehovah,

¹²and to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, and for all that had to be laid out on the house for repairs.

¹³However there were not made for the house of Jehovah basons of silver, knives, bowls, trumpets, nor any utensil of gold or utensil of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah;

¹⁴but they gave that to the workmen, and repaired the house of Jehovah with it.

¹⁵And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the money to be bestowed on workmen; for they dealt faithfully.

¹⁶The money of trespass-offerings, and the money of sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of Jehovah: it was for the priests.

¹⁷Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.

¹⁸And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem.

¹⁹And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁰And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy, and smote Joash in the house of Millo, at the descent of Silla.

²¹And Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

II Kings 13

¹In the three-and-twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, for seventeen years.

²And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not from them.

³And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all those days.

⁴(And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.

⁵And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.

⁶Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin: they walked therein; and there remained also the Asherah in Samaria.)

⁷For he had left of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

⁸And the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

⁹And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, for sixteen years.

¹¹And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: he walked therein.

¹²And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹³And Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴And Elisha fell sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!

¹⁵And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows.

¹⁶And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands,

¹⁷and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, An arrow of Jehovah's deliverance, even an arrow of deliverance from the Syrians; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou hast consumed them.

¹⁸And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

¹⁹And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then wouldest thou have smitten the Syrians till thou hadst consumed them; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

²⁰And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

²¹And it came to pass as they were burying a man, that behold, they saw the band, and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and the man went down, and touched the bones of Elisha, and he revived, and stood upon his feet.

²²And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

²³And Jehovah was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he would not destroy them, neither did he cast them from his presence up to that time.

²⁴And Hazael king of Syria died, and Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his stead.

²⁵And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.