2 Kings 7; 2 Kings 8; 2 Kings 9

1 Elisha answered, "Listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow 24 cups of the best flour will sell for half an ounce of silver in the gateway to Samaria. And 48 cups of barley will sell for half an ounce of silver."

2 The servant on whose arm the king was leaning answered the man of God, "Could this happen even if the LORD poured rain through windows in the sky?" Elisha replied, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat any of it."

3 Four men with skin diseases were at the entrance of the city gate. One of them asked, "Why are we sitting here waiting to die?

4 If we go into the city, the famine is also there, and we'll still die. But if we stay here, we'll die. So let's go to the Aramean camp. If they give us something to keep us alive, we'll live. But if they kill us, we'll die anyway."

5 So they started out at dusk to go into the Aramean camp. When they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there.

6 (The LORD had made the Aramean army hear what sounded like chariots, horses, and a large army. The Aramean soldiers said to one another, "The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!"

7 So at dusk they fled. They abandoned the camp as it was with its tents, horses, and donkeys and ran for their lives.)

8 When the men with skin diseases came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, and carried off the silver, gold, and clothes they found in that tent. They went away and hid them. Then they came back, went into another tent, carried off its contents, went away, and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another, "What we're doing is not right. This is a day of good news, and we're not telling anyone about it. If we wait until morning when it's light out, we'll be punished. Let's bring the news to the royal palace."

10 So they called the city gatekeepers and told them, "We went into the Aramean camp, and we didn't see or hear anyone. The horses and donkeys were still tied up. Even the tents were left exactly as they were."

11 The gatekeepers announced the news to the royal palace.

12 So the king got up at night and told his officers what the Arameans had planned for them. He said, "They know we're starving, so they've left the camp to hide in the countryside. They're thinking, 'When they've left the city, we'll capture them alive and get into the city.'"

13 One of his officers replied, "Please let some men take five of the horses that are left here. Those men will be no worse off than the rest of the Israelites who are dying. Let's send them to take a look."

14 So they took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them to follow the Aramean army and told them to find out what happened.

15 They followed them as far as the Jordan River and saw how the whole road was littered with clothes and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their hurry. The messengers returned and told the king about it.

16 So the people went out and looted the Aramean camp. Then 24 cups of the best flour sold for half an ounce of silver, and 48 cups of barley sold for half an ounce of silver, as the LORD had predicted.

17 The king appointed the servant on whose arm he used to lean to be in charge of the gate. But the people trampled him to death in the gateway, as the man of God had predicted when the king came to him.

18 (It happened exactly as the man of God told the king, "Forty-eight cups of barley will sell for half an ounce of silver. And twenty-four cups of the best flour will sell for half an ounce of silver. This will happen about this time tomorrow in the gateway to Samaria."

19 Then the servant answered the man of God, "Could this happen even if the LORD poured rain through windows in the sky?" Elisha answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you won't eat any of it.")

20 So this is what happened to the king's servant: The people trampled him to death in the gateway.

1 Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life, "Go away with your family. Stay wherever you can. The LORD has decided to send a famine on this country, and it will last seven years."

2 The woman did what the man of God told her. She and her family went to live in Philistine territory for seven years.

3 At the end of seven years, the woman came home from Philistine territory but left again to make an appeal to the king about her house and land.

4 The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God. He said, "Please tell me about all the great things Elisha has done."

5 While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha brought a dead child back to life, the mother [came to] make an appeal to the king about her house and land. Gehazi said, "Your Majesty, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha brought back to life."

6 When the king asked the woman [about this], she told him the story. So the king assigned to her an attendant to whom he said, "Restore all that is hers, including whatever her property produced from the day she left the country until now."

7 Elisha went to Damascus. King Benhadad of Aram, who was sick, was told, "The man of God has come here."

8 The king told Hazael, "Take a present, and meet the man of God. Ask the LORD through him, 'Will I recover from this illness?'"

9 Hazael went to meet Elisha. He took with him a present and all kinds of goods from Damascus. He had loaded the goods on 40 camels. He stood in front of Elisha and said, "Your humble servant King Benhadad of Aram has sent me to you. He asks whether he will recover from this illness."

10 Elisha replied, "Tell him that he will get better, although the LORD has shown me that he is actually going to die."

11 He stared at him until he became embarrassed. Then the man of God began to cry.

12 "Sir, why are you crying?" Hazael asked. Elisha answered, "I know the evil you will do to the Israelites: You will set their fortresses on fire, kill their best young men, smash their little children, and rip open their pregnant women."

13 But Hazael asked, "How can a dog like me do such a significant thing?" Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will become king of Aram."

14 Hazael left Elisha and went to his master Benhadad, who asked him what Elisha had said. Hazael answered, "He told me that you will get better."

15 But the next day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and smothered the king with it. Hazael ruled as king in his place.

16 Joram (Ahab's son) was in his fifth year as king of Israel when Jehoram, son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, began to rule. Jehoram ruled while Jehoshaphat was still king of Judah.

17 He was 32 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 8 years in Jerusalem.

18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as Ahab's family had done, because his wife was Ahab's daughter. So he did what the LORD considered evil.

19 But for David's sake the LORD didn't want to destroy Judah. The LORD had told David that he would always give him and his descendants a [shining] lamp.

20 During Jehoram's time Edom rebelled against Judah and chose its own king.

21 Jehoram took all his chariots to attack Zair. The Edomites and their chariot commanders surrounded him, but he got up at night, broke through their lines, and his troops fled home.

22 So Edom rebelled against Judah's rule and is still independent today. At that time Libnah also rebelled.

23 Isn't everything else about Jehoram--everything he did--written in the official records of the kings of Judah?

24 Jehoram lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

25 Joram (Ahab's son) was in his twelfth year as king of Israel when Jehoram's son Ahaziah became king of Judah.

26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.

27 Ahaziah followed the ways of Ahab's family. He did what the LORD considered evil, as Ahab's family had done, because he was related to Ahab's family by marriage.

28 Ahaziah went with Ahab's son Joram to fight against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. There the Arameans wounded Joram.

29 King Joram returned to Jezreel to let his wounds heal. (He had been wounded by the Arameans at Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Aram.) Then Jehoram's son Ahaziah went to Jezreel to see Ahab's son Joram, who was sick.

1 The prophet Elisha called one of the disciples of the prophets. He said, "Put on your belt. Take this flask of olive oil, and go to Ramoth Gilead.

2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Go inside, and have him get up and leave his companions. Take him into an inner room.

3 Take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, 'This is what the LORD says: I have anointed you king of Israel.' Then open the door and leave immediately."

4 The young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.

5 When he arrived there, the army's generals were sitting together. He said, "I have something to tell you, General." Jehu asked, "Which one of us?" He answered, "You, General!"

6 Jehu got up and went into the house. The prophet poured olive oil on his head and told him, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: I have anointed you king of the LORD's people, [king] of Israel.

7 You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. I will get revenge on Jezebel for shedding the blood of my servants the prophets and all the LORD's [other] servants.

8 Ahab's entire family will die. I will destroy every male from Ahab's family, whether slave or freeman in Israel.

9 I will make Ahab's family like the family of Jeroboam (Nebat's son) and like the family of Baasha, son of Ahijah.

10 Dogs will eat Jezebel inside the walls of Jezreel, and no one will bury her." Then he opened the door and left.

11 Jehu came out to his master's officials. One of them asked him, "Is everything alright? Why did this lunatic come to you?" He answered, "You know the man and the kind of things he says."

12 They said, "That's not an answer. Please tell us." Jehu replied, "We talked for a while, and he said to me, 'This is what the LORD says: I have anointed you king of Israel.'"

13 Then each one of them immediately took off his coat and laid it on the stairs below him. They blew a ram's horn and said, "Jehu is king!"

14 So Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi, plotted against Joram. (Joram and all Israel were guarding Ramoth Gilead against King Hazael of Aram.

15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received while fighting King Hazael of Aram.) Then Jehu said, "If you want me to be king, don't let anyone escape from the city to take the news to Jezreel."

16 So Jehu got on his chariot and drove to Jezreel because Joram was lying in bed there. (King Ahaziah of Judah had come to see Joram.)

17 The watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu's troops coming. He said, "I see some troops." So Joram said, "Take a chariot driver, send him to meet them, and ask, 'Is everything alright?'"

18 So a chariot driver rode off, met Jehu, and said, "The king asks, 'Is everything alright?'" Jehu replied, "Why should that matter to you? Follow me." So the watchman announced, "The messenger you sent has reached them, but he isn't coming back."

19 Then Joram sent out a second driver. When he came to them, he said, "The king asks, 'Is everything alright?'" Jehu replied, "Why should that matter to you? Follow me."

20 So the watchman announced, "He has reached them, but he isn't coming back. The troop's leader is driving like a lunatic, like Jehu, grandson of Nimshi."

21 "Hitch the horses to the chariot," Joram ordered. When that was done, King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went to meet Jehu, each in his own chariot. They found him in the field that belonged to Naboth from Jezreel.

22 When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "Is everything alright, Jehu?" Jehu answered, "How can everything be alright as long as your mother continues her idolatry and witchcraft?"

23 As Joram turned his chariot around and tried to flee, he said to Ahaziah, "It's a trap, Ahaziah!"

24 But Jehu took his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow came out of his chest, and he slumped over in his chariot.

25 Then Jehu said to his attendant Bidkar, "Take him away, and throw him into the field that belonged to Naboth from Jezreel. Remember when you and I were driving our chariots behind his father Ahab? The LORD revealed this prophecy about him:

26 'Just as I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday, I will pay you back in this field,' declares the LORD. Now take him and throw him into the field as the LORD predicted."

27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled on the road leading to Beth Haggan. Jehu pursued him and ordered, "Shoot him down in his chariot." They shot him at Gur Pass, which is near Ibleam. Ahaziah continued to flee until he got to Megiddo, where he died.

28 His servants brought him in a chariot to Jerusalem. They buried him in a tomb with his ancestors in the City of David.

29 (Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year that Joram, Ahab's son, was king of Israel.)

30 When Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on eye shadow, fixed her hair, and looked out of a second-story window.

31 When Jehu entered the gateway, she asked, "Is everything alright, Zimri, murderer of your master?"

32 Looking up at the window, he asked, "Is anyone on my side? Anyone?" Then two or three eunuchs looked out at him.

33 He said, "Throw her down." They threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and the horses. The horses trampled her.

34 He went inside, ate, and drank. Then he said, "Take care of this woman who had a curse on her. After all, she was a king's daughter."

35 But when they went out to bury her, they couldn't find any of her body except her skull, feet, and hands.

36 They came back and told him. Jehu said, "The LORD spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe. He said, 'Dogs will eat Jezebel's body inside the walls of Jezreel.

37 Jezebel's corpse will be like manure on the ground in the fields surrounding Jezreel so that no one will be able to say that this is Jezebel.'"