2 Kings 9

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 The prophet Elisha summoned a member of the prophetic brotherhood to him, 'Hitch up your clothes,take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth in Gilead.	1 The prophet Elisha called one of the guild prophets and said to him: "Gird your loins, take this flask of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Then, when you find him, telhim to get up and leave his companions, and take him into an inner room.	2 When you get there, look for Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Enter and take him away from his companions into an inner chamber.
3 Take the flask of oil then and pour it over his head, and say, "Yahweh says this: I have anointed youking of Israel." Then open the door and flee as fast as you can.'	3 From the flask you have, pour oil on his head, and say, 'Thus says the LORD: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and flee without delay."
4 The young man left for Ramoth in Gilead	4 The young man (the guild prophet) went to Ramoth-gilead.
5 and when he arrived, found the senior officers of the army sitting together. 'I have a message for you,commander,' he said. 'For which of us?' asked Jehu. 'For you, commander,' he answered.	5 When he arrived, the commanders of the army were in session. "I have a message for you, commander," he said. "For which one of us?" asked Jehu. "For you, commander," he answered.
6 Jehu then got up and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying,'Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, "I have anointed you king of Yahweh's people, of Israel.	6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the young man poured the oil on his head and said, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel.
7 You wil strike down the family of Ahab your master, and I shal avenge the blood of my servants theprophets and al of Yahweh's servants, on Jezebel	7 You shall destroy the house of Ahab your master; thus will I avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the other servants of the LORD shed by Jezebel,
8 and on the whole family of Ahab. I shal destroy every manjack of Ahab's family, fettered or free in Israel.	8 and by all the rest of the family of Ahab. I will cut off every male in Ahab's line, whether slave or freeman in Israel.
9 I shal make the House of Ahab like the House of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah.	9 I will deal with the house of Ahab as I dealt with the house of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and with the house of Baasha, son of Ahijah.
10 As for Jezebel, the dogs wil eat her in the field of Jezreel; no one wil bury her." ' With this, he openedthe door and made his escape.	10 Dogs shall devour Jezebel at the confines of Jezreel, so that no one can bury her.'" Then he opened the door and fled.
11 Jehu came out to his master's officers. 'Is al wel ?' they asked him. 'Why did this madman come toyou?' 'You know the fel ow and how he talks,' he answered.	11 When Jehu rejoined his master's servants, they asked him, "Is all well? Why did that madman come to you?" You know that kind of man and his talk, he replied.
12 'Evasion!' they cried, 'Come on, tell us.' He replied, 'He said this and that to me. He said, "Yahweh saysthis: I have anointed you king of Israel." '	12 But they said, "Not at all! Come, tell us." So he told them what the young man had said to him, and finally, "Thus says the LORD: 'I anoint you king over Israel.'"
13 Whereupon they all took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps; they sounded thetrumpet and shouted, 'Jehu is king!'	13 At once each took his garment, spread it under Jehu on the bare steps, blew the trumpet, and cried out, "Jehu is king!"
14 Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi plotted against Jehoram. (At the time, Jehoram, with al Israel,was holding Ramoth in Gilead against an attack by Hazael king of Aram,	14 Thus Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, formed a conspiracy against Joram. Joram, with all Israel, had been besieging Ramoth-gilead against Hazael, king of Aram,
15 but King Jehoram had gone back to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received fromthe Aramaeans while he was fighting against Hazael king of Aram.) 'If you agree,' Jehu said, 'let no one leavethe town to go and take the news to Jezreel.'	15 but had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle against Hazael, king of Aram. "If you are truly with me," Jehu said, "see that no one escapes from the city to report in Jezreel."
16 Jehu then mounted his chariot and left for Jezreel; Jehoram had taken to his bed there, and Ahaziahking of Judah had gone down to visit him.	16 Then Jehu mounted his chariot and drove to Jezreel, where Joram lay ill and Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come to visit him.
17 The lookout posted on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu's troop approaching. 'I can see a body of men,'he shouted. Jehoram gave the order: 'Have a horseman sent to meet them and ask, "Is al wel ?" '	17 The watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw the troop of Jehu coming and reported, "I see chariots." "Get a driver," Joram said, "and send him to meet them and to ask whether all is well."
18 The horseman went to meet Jehu and said, 'The king says, "Is al wel ?" ' 'What has it to do with youwhether all is well?' Jehu replied. 'Fal in behind me.' The lookout reported, 'The messenger has reached themand is not coming back.'	18 So a driver went out to meet him and said, "The king asks whether all is well." "What does it matter to you how things are?" Jehu said. "Get behind me." The watchman reported to the king, "The messenger has reached them, but is not returning."
19 The king sent a second horseman who reached them and said, 'The king says, "Is al wel ?" ' 'What hasit to do with you whether al is wel ?' Jehu replied. 'Fall in behind me.'	19 Joram sent a second driver, who went to them and said, "The king asks whether all is well." "What does it matter to you how things are?" Jehu replied. "Get behind me."
20 The lookout reported, 'He has reached them and is not coming back. The manner of driving is like thatof Jehu son of Nimshi: he drives like a madman.'	20 The watchman reported, "The messenger has reached them, but is not returning. The driving is like that of Jehu, son of Nimshi, in its fury."
21 'Harness!' Jehoram cried; and they harnessed his chariot. Then Jehoram king of Israel and Ahaziahking of Judah, each in his chariot, set out to meet Jehu. They reached him in the field of Naboth of Jezreel.	21 "Prepare my chariot," said Joram. When they had done so, Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, set out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They reached him near the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 As soon as Jehoram saw Jehu he asked, 'Is al wel , Jehu?' 'What a question!' he replied, 'when al thewhile the prostitutions and countless sorceries of your mother Jezebel go on.'	22 When Joram recognized Jehu, he asked, "Is all well, Jehu?" "How can all be well," Jehu replied, "as long as the many fornications and witchcrafts of your mother Jezebel continue?"
23 At this, Jehoram wheeled and fled, saying to Ahaziah, 'Treason, Ahaziah!'	23 Joram reined about and fled, crying to Ahaziah, "Treason, Ahaziah!"
24 But Jehu had drawn his bow; he struck Jehoram between the shoulder-blades, the arrow went throughthe king's heart, and he sank down in his chariot.	24 But Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow went through his heart and he collapsed in his chariot.
25 'Pick him up,' Jehu said to Bidkar, his equerry, 'and throw him into the field of Naboth of Jezreel.Remember how, when you and I manned a chariot together behind Ahab his father, Yahweh pronounced thissentence against him,	25 Then Jehu said to his adjutant Bidkar, "Take him and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For I remember that when we were driving teams behind his father Ahab, the LORD delivered this oracle against him:
26 "This I swear. Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons -- Yahweh says this. Andin this same field I shall requite you -- Yahweh says this." So pick him up, and throw him into the field, asYahweh declared should happen!'	26 'As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,' says the LORD, 'I will repay you for it in that very plot of ground, says the LORD.' So now take him into this plot of ground, in keeping with the word of the LORD."
27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled along the Beth-ha-Gan road, but Jehu went in pursuit ofhim. 'Strike him down too,' he said. And they wounded him in his chariot at the slope of Gur, which is nearIbleam, and he took refuge in Megiddo, where he died.	27 Seeing what was happening, Ahaziah, king of Judah, fled toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, "Kill him too!" And they pierced him as he rode through the pass of Gur near Ibleam. He continued his flight as far as Megiddo and died there.
28 His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb in the City of David.	28 His servants brought him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in the tomb of his ancestors in the City of David.
29 Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year of Jehoram son of Ahab.	29 Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year of Joram, son of Ahab.
30 When Jehu went back to Jezreel, Jezebel was told. She made up her eyes with mascara, adorned herhead and appeared at the window.	30 When Jezebel learned that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel, she shadowed her eyes, adorned her hair, and looked down from her window.
31 As Jehu came through the gateway she said, 'How did Zimri get on after kil ing his master?'	31 As Jehu came through the gate, she cried out, "Is all well, Zimri, murderer of your master?"
32 Jehu looked up to the window and said, 'Who is on my side? Who?' And two or three officials lookeddown at him.	32 Jehu looked up to the window and shouted, "Who is on my side? Anyone?" At this, two or three eunuchs looked down toward him.
33 'Throw her down,' he said. They threw her down and her blood spattered the wal s and the horses; andJehu rode over her.	33 "Throw her down," he ordered. They threw her down, and some of her blood spurted against the wall and against the horses. Jehu rode in over her body
34 He went in and ate and drank, then said, 'See to this accursed woman, and give her burial; after al ,she was a king's daughter.'	34 and, after eating and drinking, he said: "Attend to that accursed woman and bury her; after all, she was a king's daughter."
35 But when they went to bury her, they found nothing but her skul , feet and hands.	35 But when they went to bury her, they found nothing of her but the skull, the feet, and the hands.
36 They came back and told Jehu, who said, 'This is the word of Yahweh which he spoke through hisservant Elijah the Tishbite, "The dogs wil eat the flesh of Jezebel in the field of Jezreel;	36 They returned to Jehu, and when they told him, he said, "This is the sentence which the LORD pronounced through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the confines of Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel.
37 the corpse of Jezebel wil be like dung spread on the fields, so that no one wil be able to say: This wasJezebel." '	37 The corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung in the field in the confines of Jezreel, so that no one can say: This was Jezebel.'"