25 Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite.(A) For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this pronouncement against him: 26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘so will I repay you on this plot of land’—this is the Lord’s declaration. So now, according to the word of the Lord, pick him up and throw him on the plot of land.”(B)

27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what was happening, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot him in his chariot[a] at Gur Pass near Ibleam,(C) but he fled to Megiddo(D) and died there.(E) 28 Then his servants carried him to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in his ancestors’ tomb in the city of David.(F) 29 It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.(G)

Jehu Kills Jezebel

30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes,(H) fixed her hair,[b] and looked down from the window. 31 As Jehu entered the city gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri,(I) killer of your master?”

32 He looked up toward the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs(J) looked down at him, 33 and he said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and Jehu rode over her.(K)

34 Then he went in, ate and drank, and said, “Take care of this cursed(L) woman and bury her, since she’s a king’s daughter.”(M) 35 But when they went out to bury her, they did not find anything but the skull, the feet, and the hands. 36 So they went back and told him, and he said, “This fulfills the Lord’s word that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel’s flesh.(N) 37 Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure(O) on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel so that no one will be able to say: This is Jezebel.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:27 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT omits So they shot him
  2. 9:30 Lit made her head pleasing

25 Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy(A) against him: 26 ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth(B) and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’[a] Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”(C)

27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan.[b] Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam,(D) but he escaped to Megiddo(E) and died there. 28 His servants took him by chariot(F) to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. 29 (In the eleventh(G) year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)

Jezebel Killed

30 Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup,(H) arranged her hair and looked out of a window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri,(I) you murderer of your master?”[c]

32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 33 “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.(J)

34 Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.”(K) 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. 36 They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs(L) will devour Jezebel’s flesh.[d](M) 37 Jezebel’s body will be like dung(N) on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 9:26 See 1 Kings 21:19.
  2. 2 Kings 9:27 Or fled by way of the garden house
  3. 2 Kings 9:31 Or “Was there peace for Zimri, who murdered his master?”
  4. 2 Kings 9:36 See 1 Kings 21:23.

Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying:

If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, bring me the heads of your master’s sons[a] at this time tomorrow at Jezreel.

All seventy of the king’s sons were being cared for by the city’s prominent men. When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” the king said, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”

The next morning when he went out and stood at the gate, he said to all the people, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him.(A) But who struck down all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab will fail,(B) for the Lord has done what he promised through his servant Elijah.”(C) 11 So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel—all his great men, close friends, and priests—leaving him no survivors.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 10:6 Lit heads of the men of the sons of your master

Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”

Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy(A) of them. They put their heads(B) in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.”

Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”

The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced(C) through his servant Elijah.”(D) 11 So Jehu(E) killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.(F)

Read full chapter