1Elisha the prophet called one of the young prophets and told him, “Get ready, take this small bottle of oil, and go to Ramoth Gilead.
2When you arrive there, find Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Go inside, get him up from his companions, and take him to a private room.
3Then take the bottle of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘Yahweh says, “I have appointed you king over Israel.”’ Afterward, open the door, run away, and don’t wait.”
4So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.
5When he got there, he saw the army commanders sitting together. He said, “I have a message for you, commander.” Jehu asked, “For which one of us?” The young prophet replied, “For you, commander.”
6Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the young prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head and said to him, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have appointed you king over Yahweh’s people, over Israel.
7You must destroy the family of your master Ahab, so I can get revenge for the blood of my servants, the prophets, and for the blood of all Yahweh’s servants, shed by Jezebel.
8Because the entire family of Ahab will be wiped out. I will eliminate every male descendant of Ahab, both slaves and free men in Israel.
9I will make Ahab’s family like the family of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha, son of Ahijah.
10Dogs will eat Jezebel in the field of Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and ran away.
11When Jehu returned to his master’s officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did that crazy fellow come to you?” Jehu replied, “You know that kind of man and the way he talks.”
12They said, “That’s not true. Tell us now.” So Jehu told them, “He said to me, ‘Yahweh says, “I have appointed you king over Israel.”’
13Immediately, each man quickly took off his cloak and spread it under Jehu on the top step. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
14So Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi, plotted against Joram. (Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead with all of Israel against Hazael, king of Aram;
15but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had given him when he fought against Hazael, king of Aram.) Jehu said, “If you agree with this plan, don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and report it in Jezreel.”
16Then Jehu got into his chariot and headed for Jezreel, because Joram was resting there. King Ahaziah of Judah had also come down to visit Joram.
17The lookout standing on the watchtower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s group approaching and called out, “I see a company of men!” Joram said, “Send a horseman to meet them and ask, ‘Is everything peaceful?’ ”
18So a horseman rode out to meet him and said, “The king asks, ‘Is everything peaceful?’ ” Jehu replied, “What does peace have to do with you? Get in line behind me!” The lookout reported, “The messenger reached them, but he’s not coming back.”
19Then Joram sent out a second horseman, who also came to them and said, “The king asks, ‘Is everything peaceful?’ ” Jehu answered, “What does peace have to do with you? Get in line behind me!”
20The watchman said, "He reached them, but he’s not coming back. He drives like Jehu, Nimshi’s son, because he drives so wildly."
21Joram said, "Get the chariot ready!" So they prepared his chariot. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah each went out in their chariots to meet Jehu. They found him on the land that used to belong to Naboth the Jezreelite.
22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "Are things peaceful, Jehu?" Jehu replied, "How can there be peace as long as your mother Jezebel continues her sexual immorality and her witchcraft?"
23Joram quickly turned around and fled, shouting to Ahaziah, "This is treason, Ahaziah!"
24Jehu drew his bow with all his strength and shot Joram between his arms. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.
25Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain, "Pick him up and throw him on the piece of land that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how, when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, Yahweh made this prophecy about him:
26'Surely yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,' says Yahweh, 'and I will repay you on this very plot of ground,' says Yahweh. So now, pick him up and throw him on that plot of ground, just as Yahweh said."
27When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled toward the garden house. Jehu chased after him and said, "Shoot him too, in his chariot!" They shot him on the road that goes up to Gur, near Ibleam. He managed to escape to Megiddo, where he died.
28His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David.
29Ahaziah began to rule over Judah in the eleventh year of Joram, son of Ahab.
30When Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on makeup, styled her hair, and looked out a window.
31As Jehu entered the city gate, she called out, "Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?"
32He looked up at the window and asked, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.
33He said, "Throw her down!" So they threw her down. Some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses. Then Jehu trampled her underfoot.
34After he went inside, he ate and drank. Then he said, "Go see about this cursed woman and bury her, for she was a king's daughter."
35But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left of her except her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.
36So they came back and told him. Jehu said, "This is what Yahweh said through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'Dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh on the piece of land in Jezreel,
37and Jezebel's body will be like dung on the ground in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, "This was Jezebel."'"