And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-Gilead.

And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting. And he said, I have an errand to thee, captain. And Jehu said, To which of all of us? And he said, To thee, captain.

And he rose up and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, over Israel.

And Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord. And one said to him, Is all well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them, Ye know the man, and his mind.

And they said, It is false! tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spoke he to me saying, Thus saith Jehovah: I have anointed thee king over Israel.

Then they hasted and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the very stairs, and blew with trumpets, and said, Jehu is king!

and king Joram had returned to be healed in Jizreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your will, let not a fugitive escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jizreel.

And the watchman stood on the tower in Jizreel, and saw Jehu's company as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?

So there went one on horseback to meet him; and he said, Thus saith the king: Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told saying, The messenger came to them, and he does not return.

And he sent out a second on horseback; and he came to them and said, Thus saith the king: Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.

Then Joram said, Make ready! And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the plot of Naboth the Jizreelite.

And it came to pass when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he said, What peace, so long as the fornications of thy mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?

Then Joram turned his hand, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, Treachery, Ahaziah!

And he said to Bidkar his captain, Take him up and cast him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jizreelite. For remember how, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, that Jehovah laid this burden upon him:

When Ahaziah king of Judah saw that, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in his chariot. It was on the ascent of Gur, which is by Jibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

And when Jehu came in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?

And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And two or three chamberlains looked out to him.

And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trampled on her.

And he came in, and ate and drank; and he said, Go, look, I pray you, after this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.

And they came back and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying, In the plot of Jizreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel;

And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand?

And a messenger came and told him saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these?

Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah.

Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.

And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining.

And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. If it be, give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand; and Jehu took him up to him into the chariot,

and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.

And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much.

And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the servants of Baal only.

And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him.

And it came to pass as soon as they had ended offering up the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the couriers and to the captains, Go in, slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the couriers and the captains cast them there. And they went to the city of the house of Baal,

And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king!

And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, slay with the sword; for the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of Jehovah.

And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the money of every one that passes the account, the money at which every man is valued, and all the money that comes into any man's heart to bring into the house of Jehovah,

Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have ye not repaired the breaches of the house? And now receive no money of your acquaintances, but give it for the breaches of the house.

And Elisha fell sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!

And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows.

And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands,

and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, An arrow of Jehovah's deliverance, even an arrow of deliverance from the Syrians; and thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou hast consumed them.

And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then wouldest thou have smitten the Syrians till thou hadst consumed them; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

And Jehovah had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens; and he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

and they served idols, as to which Jehovah had said to them, Ye shall not do this thing.

until Jehovah had removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said through all his servants the prophets; and Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day.

And Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

Am I now come up without Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, and Shebnah and Joah said to Rab-shakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it, and talk not with us in the Jewish language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

And Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to thy master and to thee that my master sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men that sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?

And Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and spoke and said, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of reviling; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim, thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heavens and the earth.

By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots have I come up To the height of the mountain, to the recesses of Lebanon, And I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its cypresses; And I will enter into its furthest lodging-place, into the forest of its fruitful field.

In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of Jehovah the third day?

And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign to thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

And Hezekiah said, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

Then came the prophet Isaiah to king Hezekiah and said to him, What said these men? and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, from Babylon.

And he said, What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah said, All that is in my house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewn them.

And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah:

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not so? if only there shall be peace and truth in my days!

And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, of which Jehovah had said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

And he set the graven image of the Asherah that he had made, in the house of which Jehovah had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever;

And Hilkijah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkijah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again and said, Thy servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of Jehovah.

And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me,

Then he said, What tombstone is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.

And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. And they saved his bones, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

And Jehovah said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will reject this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

And he brought out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had said.

And Gedaliah swore unto them and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

Even aforetime, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel; and Jehovah thy God said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over my people Israel.

And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come in hither. But David took the stronghold of Zion, which is the city of David.

And David said, Whoever smites the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is in the gate!

And he said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing! should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? for at the risk of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If ye come peaceably to me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers see it and rebuke it.

And the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, And with thee, thou son of Jesse: Peace, peace be to thee! And peace be to thy helpers! For thy God helps thee. And David received them, and made them chiefs of bands.

And David said to all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good to you, and it be of Jehovah our God, let us send abroad to our brethren everywhere, that are left in all the lands of Israel, and with them to the priests and Levites in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves to us;

And all the congregation said that they should do so; for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

And David inquired of God saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines, and wilt thou give them into my hand? And Jehovah said to him, Go up; and I will give them into thy hand.

And they came up to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there; and David said, God has broken in upon mine enemies by my hand, as the breaking forth of waters. Therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazim.

And David inquired again of God; and God said to him, Go not up after them; turn round them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-trees.

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for them has Jehovah chosen to carry the ark of God, and to serve him for ever.

and he said to them, Ye are the chief fathers of the Levites; hallow yourselves, ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it.

Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And all the people said, Amen! and praised Jehovah.

And it came to pass as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah under curtains.

And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee.

And king David went in and sat before Jehovah, and said, Who am I, Jehovah Elohim, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

And now, Jehovah, let the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.

And David said, I will shew kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search and overthrow, and to spy out the land that his servants are come to thee?

And certain went and told David concerning the men; and he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Abide at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.