Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 The prophet Elisha called to a member of the group of prophets, "Get ready, take this jug of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.
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One day Elisha the prophet ordered a member of the guild of prophets, "Get yourself ready, take a flask of oil, and go to Ramoth Gilead.
2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu, Jehoshaphat's son and Nimshi's grandson. Go to him, then pull him away from his associates, taking him to a private room.
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Look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. When you find him, get him away from his companions and take him to a back room.
3 Take the jug of oil and pour it on his head. Then say, ‘This is what the LORD has said: I anoint you king of Israel.' Then open the door, and run out of there without stopping."
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Take your flask of oil and pour it over his head and say, 'God's word: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and get out of there as fast as you can. Don't wait around."
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.
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The young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead.
5 He came in, and the military commanders were sitting right there. He said, "Commander, I have a word for you." "For which one of us?" Jehu asked. The young prophet said, "For you, Commander."
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On arrival he found the army officers all sitting around. He said, "I have a matter of business with you, officer." Jehu said, "Which one of us?" "With you, officer."
6 So Jehu got up and went inside. The prophet then poured oil on his head and said to him, "This is what the LORD, Israel's God, says: I anoint you king over the LORD's people, over Israel.
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He got up and went inside the building. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, "God's word, the God of Israel: I've anointed you to be king over the people of God, over Israel.
7 You will strike down your master Ahab's family. In this way I will take revenge for the violence done by Jezebel to my servants the prophets and to all the LORD's servants.
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Your assignment is to attack the regime of Ahab your master. I am avenging the massacre of my servants the prophets - yes, the Jezebel-massacre of all the prophets of God.
8 Ahab's whole family will die. I will eliminate from Ahab everyone who urinates on a wall, whether slave or free, in Israel.
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The entire line of Ahab is doomed. I'm wiping out the entire bunch of that sad lot.
9 I will make Ahab's dynasty like the dynasty of Jeroboam, Nebat's son, and like the dynasty of Baasha, Ahijah's son.
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I'll see to it that the family of Ahab experiences the same fate as the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah.
10 And as for Jezebel: The dogs will devour her in the area of Jezreel. No one will bury her." Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.
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As for Jezebel, the dogs will eat her carcass in the open fields of Jezreel. No burial for her!" Then he opened the door and made a run for it.
11 Jehu went out to his master's officers. They said to him, "Is everything okay? Why did this fanatic come to you?" Jehu said to them, "You know the man and the nonsense he talks."
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Jehu went back out to his master's officers. They asked, "Is everything all right? What did that crazy fool want with you?" He said, "You know that kind of man - all talk."
12 "That's a lie!" they said. "Come on, tell us!" Jehu replied, "This is what he said to me: ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king of Israel.'"
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"That's a lie!" they said. "Tell us what's going on." He said, "He told me this and this and this - in effect, 'God's word: I anoint you king of Israel!'"
13 Then each man quickly took his cloak and put it beneath Jehu on the paved steps. They blew a trumpet and said, "Jehu has become king!"
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They sprang into action. Each man grabbed his robe; they piled them at the top of the steps for a makeshift throne. Then they blew the trumpet and declared, "Jehu is king!"
14 Then Jehu, Jehoshaphat's son and Nimshi's grandson, plotted against Joram. Now Joram along with all of Israel had been guarding Ramoth-gilead against Aram's King Hazael,
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That ignited the conspiracy of Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi against Joram.
15 but King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to recover from wounds that the Arameans had given him when he fought Hazael. So Jehu said, "If this is the way you feel, then don't let anyone escape from the city to talk about it in Jezreel."
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Except that Joram had pulled back to Jezreel to convalesce from the injuries he got from the Arameans in the battle with Hazael king of Aram. Jehu said, "If you really want me as king, don't let anyone sneak out of the city and blab the news in Jezreel."
16 Then Jehu got on a chariot and drove to Jezreel because Joram was resting there. Judah's King Ahaziah had also come to visit Joram.
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Then Jehu mounted a chariot and rode to Jezreel, where Joram was in bed, resting. King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit Joram.
17 The guard standing on the tower at Jezreel saw a crowd of people coming with Jehu. He said, "I see a crowd of people." Joram said, "Take a chariot driver. Send him out to meet them to ask, ‘Do you come in peace?'"
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A sentry standing duty on the watchtower in Jezreel saw the company of Jehu arrive. He said, "I see a band of men." Joram said, "Get a horseman and send him out to meet them and inquire, 'Is anything wrong?'"
18 So the driver went to meet him and said, "The king asks, ‘Do you come in peace?'" Jehu replied, "What do you care about peace? Come around and follow me." Meanwhile, the tower guard reported, "The messenger met them, but he isn't returning."
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The horseman rode out to meet Jehu and said, "The king wants to know if there's anything wrong." Jehu said, "What's it to you whether things are right or wrong? Fall in behind me." The sentry said, "The messenger reached them, but he's not returning."
19 The king sent a second driver. He came to them and said, "The king asks, ‘Do you come in peace?'" Jehu said, "What do you care about peace? Come around and follow me."
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The king then sent a second horseman. When he reached them he said, "The king wants to know if there's anything wrong." Jehu said, "What's it to you whether things are right or wrong? Fall in behind me."
20 The tower guard reported, "The messenger met them, but he isn't returning. And the style of chariot driving is like Jehu, Nimshi's son. Jehu drives like a madman."
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The sentry said, "The messenger reached them, but he's not returning. The driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi - crazy!"
21 Joram said, "Hitch up the chariot!" So they hitched up his chariot. Then Israel's King Joram and Judah's King Ahaziah—each in his own chariot—went out to meet Jehu. They happened to meet him at the plot of ground that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.
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Joram ordered, "Get my chariot ready!" They hitched up his chariot. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah, each in his own chariot, drove out to meet Jehu. They met in the field of Naboth of Jezreel.
22 When Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" He said, "How can there be peace as long as the immoralities of your mother Jezebel and her many acts of sorcery continue?"
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hen Joram saw Jehu he called out, "Good day, Jehu!" Jehu answered, "What's good about it? How can there be anything good about it as long as the promiscuous whoring and sorceries of your mother Jezebel pollute the country?"
23 Then Joram turned his chariot around and fled. He shouted to Ahaziah, "It's a trap, Ahaziah!"
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Joram wheeled his chariot around and fled, yelling to Ahaziah, "It's a trap, Ahaziah!"
24 Jehu took his bow and shot Joram in the back. The arrow went through his heart, and he fell down in his chariot.
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Jehu pulled on his bow and released an arrow; it hit Joram between the shoulder blades and went right through his heart. He slumped to his knees in his chariot.
25 Jehu said to Bidkar his chariot officer, "Pick him up, and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were driving chariot teams behind his father Ahab when the LORD spoke this prophecy about him:
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Jehu ordered Bidkar, his lieutenant, "Quick - throw him into the field of Naboth of Jezreel. Remember when you and I were driving our chariots behind Ahab his father? That's when God pronounced this doom upon him:
26 Yesterday I saw Naboth's blood and his sons' blood, declares the LORD. I swear that I will pay you back on this very plot of ground, declares the LORD. Now pick him up, and throw him on that plot of ground, in agreement with the LORD's word."
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'As surely as I saw the blood of murdered Naboth and his sons yesterday, you'll pay for it on this exact piece of ground. God's word!' So take him and throw him out in the field. God's instructions carried out to the letter!"
27 Judah's King Ahaziah saw this and fled on the road to Beth-haggan. Jehu chased after him. "Do the same to him!" he commanded. They shot him in his chariot on the way up to Gur, near Ibleam. Ahaziah fled to Megiddo and died there.
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Ahaziah king of Judah saw what was going on and made his escape on the road toward Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, yelling out, "Get him, too!" Jehu's troops shot and wounded him in his chariot on the hill up to Gur, near Ibleam. He was able to make it as far as Megiddo; there he died.
28 His servants carried him back in a chariot to Jerusalem. He was buried in his tomb with his ancestors in David's City.
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His aides drove on to Jerusalem. They buried him in the family plot in the City of David.
29 Ahaziah had become Judah's king in the eleventh year of Ahab's son Joram.
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In the eleventh year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.
30 Jehu then went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard of it, she put on her eye shadow and arranged her hair. She looked down out of the window.
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When Jezebel heard that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel, she made herself up - put on eyeshadow and arranged her hair - and posed seductively at the window.
31 When Jehu came through the gate, she said, "Do you come in peace, Zimri, you master murderer?"
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When Jehu came through the city gate, she called down, "So, how are things, 'Zimri,' you dashing king-killer?"
32 Jehu looked up to the window and said, "Who's on my side? Anyone?" Two or three high officials looked down at him.
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Jehu looked up at the window and called, "Is there anybody up there on my side?" Two or three palace eunuchs looked out.
33 Then he said, "Throw her out!" So they threw her out of the window. Some of her blood splattered against the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her.
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He ordered, "Throw her down!" They threw her out the window. Her blood spattered the wall and the horses, and Jehu trampled her under his horse's hooves.
34 Jehu then went in to eat and drink. He said, "Deal with this cursed woman and bury her. She was, after all, a king's daughter."
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Then Jehu went inside and ate his lunch. During lunch he gave orders, "Take care of that damned woman; give her a decent burial - she is, after all, a king's daughter."
35 They went to bury her, but they couldn't find her body. Only her skull was left, along with her hands and feet.
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They went out to bury her, but there was nothing left of her but skull, feet, and hands.
36 They went back and reported this to Jehu. He said, "This is the LORD's word spoken through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: Dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh in the area of Jezreel.
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They came back and told Jehu. He said, "It's God's word, the word spoken by Elijah the Tishbite: In the field of Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel;
37 Jezebel's corpse will be like dung spread out in a field in that plot of land in Jezreel, so no one will be able to say, This was Jezebel."
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The body of Jezebel will be like dog-droppings on the ground in Jezreel. Old friends and lovers will say, 'I wonder, is this Jezebel?'"
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.