II Kings 6-10

II Kings 6

¹And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us.

²Let us go, we pray thee, to the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he said, Go.

³And one said, Consent, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he said, I will go.

⁴And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan and cut down the trees.

⁵And it came to pass as one was felling a beam, that the iron fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, master, and it was borrowed!

⁶And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim.

⁷And he said, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand and took it.

⁸And the king of Syria warred against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.

⁹And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down.

¹⁰And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and he was on his guard there. That took place not once, nor twice.

¹¹And the heart of the king of Syria was troubled because of this thing; and he called his servants, and said to them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?

¹²And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

¹³And he said, Go and see where he is, and I will send and fetch him. And it was told him saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

¹⁴And he sent thither horses and chariots, and a great host, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵And when the attendant of the man of God rose early and went forth, behold, an army surrounded the city, with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

¹⁶And he said, Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them.

¹⁷And Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

¹⁸And they came down to him; and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, Smite this nation, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

¹⁹And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them to Samaria.

²⁰And it came to pass when they entered into Samaria, that Elisha said, Jehovah, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite? shall I smite them?

²²And he said, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

²³And he prepared a great repast for them, and they ate and drank; and he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

²⁴And it came to pass after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.

²⁵And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was worth eighty silver-pieces, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung five silver-pieces.

²⁶And it came to pass as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman to him saying, Help, my lord O king!

²⁷And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress?

²⁸And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow.

²⁹And we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she has hidden her son.

³⁰And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his garments; and he was passing by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.

³¹And he said, God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day!

³²And Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. And the king sent a man before him. Before the messenger came to him, he himself said to the elders, Do ye see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? See, when the messenger comes; shut the door, and keep him off with the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

³³And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah: why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?

II Kings 7

¹And Elisha said, Hear the word of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah: To-morrow about this time shall the measure of fine flour be at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

²And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

³And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said one to another, Why do we abide here until we die?

⁴If we say, Let us enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we abide here, we shall die. And now come, let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall but die.

⁵And they rose up in the dusk to go to the camp of the Syrians; and they came to the extremity of the camp of the Syrians; and behold, there was no man there.

⁶For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, a noise of a great host; and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

⁷And they rose up and fled in the dusk, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

⁸And those lepers came to the extremity of the camp; and they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried thence silver and gold, and garments, and went and hid it; and they came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence, and went and hid it.

⁹And they said one to another, We are not doing right; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, the iniquity will find us out; and now come, let us go and tell the king's household.

¹⁰And they came and called to the porters of the city, and told them saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one there, no sound of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were.

¹¹And the porters cried it and told it to the king's house within.

¹²And the king rose up in the night and said to his servants, Let me tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry, and they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.

¹³And one of his servants answered and said, Let some one take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that have perished), and let us send and see.

¹⁴And they took two chariots with their horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

¹⁵And they went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and materials, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.

¹⁶And the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians; and the measure of fine flour was at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, according to the word of Jehovah.

¹⁷And the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died, according to what the man of God had said, -- what he had said when the king came down to him.

¹⁸And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king saying, Two measures of barley shall be at a shekel, and the measure of fine flour at a shekel, to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria.

¹⁹And the captain answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

²⁰And so it happened to him; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.

II Kings 8

¹And Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, Rise up and go, thou and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn; for Jehovah has called for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land for seven years.

²And the woman rose up, and did according to the saying of the man of God, and went, she and her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines; and she went forth to cry to the king for her house and for her land.

⁴And the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha has done.

⁵And it came to pass as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.

⁶And the king asked the woman, and she told him. And the king appointed a certain chamberlain, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the revenue of the land since the day that she left the country even until now.

⁷And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him saying, The man of God is come hither.

⁸And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I recover from this disease?

⁹And Hazael went to meet him, and took with him a present, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden; and he came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Ben-Hadad king of Syria has sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover from this disease?

¹⁰And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, Thou wilt certainly recover. But Jehovah has shewn me that he shall certainly die.

¹¹And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept.

¹²And Hazael said, Why does my lord weep? And he said, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou kill with the sword, and wilt dash in pieces their children, and rip up their women with child.

¹³And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha said, Jehovah has shewn me that thou wilt be king over Syria.

¹⁴And he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to thee? And he said, He told me that thou wouldest certainly recover.

¹⁵And it came to pass the next day, that he took the coverlet and dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his stead.

¹⁶And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign.

¹⁷He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

¹⁸And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife; and he did evil in the sight of Jehovah.

¹⁹But Jehovah would not destroy Judah, for David his servant's sake, as he had promised him to give him always a lamp for his sons.

²⁰In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set a king over themselves.

²¹And Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled into their tents.

²²But the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

²³And the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign.

²⁶Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

²⁷And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of Jehovah, like the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

²⁸And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael the king of Syria at Ramoth-Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

²⁹And king Joram returned to be healed in Jizreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram the son of Ahab at Jizreel, for he was sick.

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.