and Hazael asked, “Why is my lord weeping?”

He replied, “Because I know the evil you will do to the people of Israel. You will set their fortresses on fire. You will kill their young men with the sword. You will dash their little ones to pieces. You will rip open their pregnant women.”

Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, do this monstrous thing?”

Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?”

He responded, “He told me you are sure to recover.”

The next day Hazael took a heavy cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over the king’s face. Ben-hadad died, and Hazael reigned instead of him.

He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.

The Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah because of His servant David, since He had promised to give a lamp to David and his sons forever.

So Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders, but his troops fled to their tents.

He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the Lord’s sight like the house of Ahab, for he was a son-in-law to Ahab’s family.

The prophet Elisha called one of the sons of the prophets and said, “Tuck your mantle under your belt, take this flask of oil with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his colleagues, and take him to an inner room.

Then, take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I anoint you king over Israel.”’ Open the door and escape. Don’t wait.”

When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there, so he said, “I have a message for you, commander.”

Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”

He answered, “For you, commander.”

So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel.

You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel—the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the Lord.

The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will eliminate all of Ahab’s males, both slave and free, in Israel.

I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.

When Jehu came out to his master’s servants, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this crazy person come to you?”

Then he said to them, “You know the sort and their ranting.”

But they replied, “That’s a lie! Tell us!”

So Jehu said, “He talked to me about this and that and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”

Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s troops approaching and shouted, “I see troops!”

Joram responded, “Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”

So a horseman went to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”

Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them but hasn’t started back.”

So he sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Do you come in peace?’”

Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

Again the watchman reported, “He reached them but hasn’t started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a madman.”

When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?”

He answered, “What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and witchcraft from your mother Jezebel?”

Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember when you and I were riding side by side behind his father Ahab, and the Lord uttered this oracle against him:

‘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.”

Then his servants carried him to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in his fathers’ tomb in the city of David.

As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, killer of your master?”

He looked up toward the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him,

Then he went in, ate and drank, and said, “Take care of this cursed woman and bury her, since she’s a king’s daughter.”

When this letter arrives, since your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weaponry,

However, they were terrified and reasoned, “Look, two kings couldn’t stand against him; how can we?”

So the overseer of the palace, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever you think is right.”

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 at this time tomorrow at Jezreel.

All 70 of the king’s sons were being cared for by the city’s prominent men.

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. But who struck down all these?

Know, then, that not a word the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab will fail, for the Lord has done what He promised through His servant Elijah.”

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.

Then he set out and went on his way to Samaria. On the way, while he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds,

Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”

They answered, “We’re Ahaziah’s relatives. We’ve come down to greet the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons.”

When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained from the house of Ahab in Samaria until he had annihilated his house, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.

Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot.

Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. None must be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” However, Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

Jehu commanded, “Consecrate a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they called one.

Then Jehu sent messengers throughout all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; there was not a man left who did not come. They entered the temple of Baal, and it was filled from one end to the other.

Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look carefully to see that there are no servants of the Lord here among you—only servants of Baal.”

Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Now Jehu had stationed 80 men outside, and he warned them, “Whoever allows any of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape will forfeit his life for theirs.”

and tore down the pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it a latrine—which it is to this day.

but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—worshiping the gold calves that were in Bethel and Dan.

Nevertheless, the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”

Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, secretly rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. So he was hidden from Athaliah and was not killed.

Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent messengers and brought in the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards. He had them come to him in the Lord’s temple, where he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king’s son

and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: a third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath are to provide protection for the king’s palace.

A third are to be at the Sur gate and a third at the gate behind the guards. You are to take turns providing protection for the palace.

You must completely surround the king with weapons in hand. Anyone who approaches the ranks is to be put to death. You must be with the king in all his daily tasks.”

Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Take her out between the ranks, and put to death by the sword anyone who follows her,” for the priest had said, “She is not to be put to death in the Lord’s temple.”

So they arrested her, and she went through the horse entrance to the king’s palace, where she was put to death.

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people and another covenant between the king and the people.

He took the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace by way of the guards’ gate. Then Joash sat on the throne of the kings.

In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king and reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, who was from Beer-sheba.

Yet the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

So King Joash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said, “Why haven’t you repaired the temple’s damage? Since you haven’t, don’t take any money from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.”

Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the Lord’s temple; in it the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the Lord’s temple.

Whenever they saw there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest would go to the Lord’s temple and count the money found there and tie it up in bags.

Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They in turn would pay it out to those working on the Lord’s temple—the carpenters, the builders,

No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay those doing the work, since they worked with integrity.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

Therefore, the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped from the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel dwelt in their tents as before,

but they didn’t turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. Jehoahaz walked in them, and the Asherah pole also remained standing in Samaria.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.

Elisha responded, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he got a bow and arrows.

Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. Then Elisha said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, yes, the arrow of victory over Aram. You are to strike down the Arameans in Aphek until you have put an end to them.”

The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to them, but now you will only strike down Aram three times.”

Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a raiding party, so they threw the man into Elisha’s tomb. When he touched Elisha’s bones, the man revived and stood up!

Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah killed his servants who had murdered his father the king.

King Jehoash of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The thistle that was in Lebanon once sent a message to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle.

You have indeed defeated Edom, and you have become overconfident. Enjoy your glory and stay at home. Why should you stir up such trouble that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

A conspiracy was formed against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. However, men were sent after him to Lachish, and they put him to death there.

Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He did not turn away from all the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

He restored Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word the Lord, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant, the prophet Jonah son of Amittai from Gath-hepher.

Yet the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

The Lord afflicted the king, and he had a serious skin disease until the day of his death. He lived in a separate house, while Jotham, the king’s son, was over the household governing the people of the land.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

In the thirty-ninth year of Judah’s King Uzziah, Shallum son of Jabesh became king; he reigned in Samaria a full month.

At that time, starting from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who were in it, and its territory. Because they wouldn’t surrender, he attacked it and ripped open all the pregnant women.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. Throughout his reign, he did not turn away from the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and did not turn away from the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He did not turn away from the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.

Then Hoshea son of Elah organized a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked him, killed him, and became king in his place in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

Yet the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

Jotham built the Upper Gate of the Lord’s temple.

but walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. March up and save me from the power of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”

Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace and sent them to the king of Assyria as a gift.

King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction to Uriah the priest.

Then King Ahaz cut off the frames of the water carts and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took the reservoir from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement.

He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

But the king of Assyria discovered Hoshea’s conspiracy. He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt and had not paid tribute money to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.

This disaster happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they had worshiped other gods.

They served idols, although the Lord had told them, “You must not do this.”