And when those lepers came to the outer line of tents, they went into one tent, and had food and drink, and took from it silver and gold and clothing, which they put in a secret place; then they came back and went into another tent from which they took more goods, which they put away in a secret place.

Then they said to one another, We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we say nothing: if we go on waiting here till the morning, punishment will come to us. So let us go and give the news to those of the king's house.

So they came in, and, crying out to the door-keepers of the town, they gave them the news, saying, We came to the tents of the Aramaeans, and there was no one there and no voice of man, only the horses and the asses in their places, and the tents as they were.

Then the door-keepers, crying out, gave the news to those inside the king's house.

Then the king got up in the night and said to his servants, This is my idea of what the Aramaeans have done to us. They have knowledge that we are without food; and so they have gone out of their tents, and are waiting secretly in the open country, saying, When they come out of the town, we will take them living and get into the town.

And one of his servants said in answer, Send men and let them take five of the horses which we still have in the town; if they keep their lives they will be the same as those of Israel who are still living here; if they come to their death they will be the same as all those of Israel who have gone to destruction: let us send and see.

So they took two horsemen; and the king sent them after the army of the Aramaeans, saying, Go and see.

And they went after them as far as Jordan; and all the road was covered with clothing and vessels dropped by the Aramaeans in their flight. So those who were sent went back and gave the news to the king.

Then the people went out and took the goods from the tents of the Aramaeans. So a measure of good meal was to be had for the price of a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, as the Lord had said.

And the king gave authority to that captain, on whose arm he was supported, to have control over the doorway into the town; but he was crushed to death there under the feet of the people, as the man of God had said when the king went down to him.

So the words of the man of God came true, which he said to the king: Two measures of barley will be offered for the price of a shekel and a measure of good meal for a shekel, tomorrow about this time in the market-place of Samaria.

And that captain said to the man of God, Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, would such a thing be possible? And he said to him, Your eyes will see it, but you will not have a taste of the food.

And such was his fate; for he was crushed to death under the feet of the people, in the doorway into the town.

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had given back to life, Go now, with all the people of your house, and get a living-place for yourselves wherever you are able; for by the word of the Lord, there will be great need of food in the land; and this will go on for seven years.

And when the seven years were ended, the woman came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king with a request for her house and her land.

And while he was giving the king the story of how Elisha had given life to the dead, the woman whose son had come back to life came to the king with a request for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, My lord king, this is the woman and this is her son, whose life Elisha gave back to him.

And in answer to the king's questions, the woman gave him all the story. So the king gave orders to one of his unsexed servants, saying, Give her back all her property, and all the produce of her fields from the day when she went away from the land up till now.

And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was ill; and they said to him, The man of God has come.

Then the king said to Hazael, Take an offering with you, and go to see the man of God and get directions from the Lord by him, saying, Am I going to get better from my disease?

So Hazael went to see him, taking with him forty camels with offerings on their backs of every sort of good thing from Damascus; and when he came before him, he said, Your son Ben-hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you, saying, Will I get better from this disease?

And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.

And Hazael said, Why is my lord weeping? Then he said in answer, Because I see the evil which you will do to the children of Israel: burning down their strong towns, putting their young men to death with the sword, smashing their little ones against the stones, and cutting open the women who are with child.

And Hazael said, How is it possible that your servant, who is only a dog, will do this great thing? And Elisha said, The Lord has made it clear to me that you will be king over Aram.

Then he went away from Elisha and came in to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And his answer was, He said that you would certainly get well.

Now on the day after, Hazael took the bed-cover, and making it wet with water, put it over Ben-hadad's face, causing his death: and Hazael became king in his place.

He was thirty-two years old when he became king; and he was ruling in Jerusalem for eight years.

But it was not the Lord's purpose to send destruction on Judah, because of David his servant, to whom he had given his word that he would have a light for ever.

Then Joram went over to Zair, with all his war-carriages; ... made an attack by night on the Edomites, whose forces were all round him, ... the captains of the war-carriages; and the people went in flight to their tents.

So Edom made themselves free from the rule of Judah to this day. And at the same time, Libnah made itself free.

And Joram went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth with his fathers in the town of David: and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was ruling in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, king of Israel.

He went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to make war on Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead: and Joram was wounded by the Aramaeans.

So King Joram went back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the bowmen had given him at Ramah, when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was ill.

And Elisha the prophet sent for one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Make yourself ready for a journey, and take this bottle of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

And when you get there, go in search of Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi; and go in and make him get up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room.

Then take the bottle and put the oil on his head, and say, The Lord says, I have put the holy oil on you to make you king over Israel. Then, opening the door, go in flight, without waiting.

So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.

And when he came, he saw the captains of the army seated together; and he said, I have something to say to you, O captain. And Jehu said, To which of us? And he said, To you, O captain.

And he got up and went into the house; then he put the holy oil on his head and said to him, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, I have made you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel.

You are to see that the family of Ahab your master is cut off, so that I may take from Jezebel payment for the blood of my servants the prophets, and for the blood of all the servants of the Lord.

For the family of Ahab will come to an end; every male of Ahab's family will be cut off, he who is shut up and he who goes free in Israel.

And Jezebel will become food for the dogs in the heritage of Jezreel, and there will be no one to put her body into the earth. Then, opening the door, he went in flight.

Then Jehu came out again to the servants of his lord, and one said to him, Is all well? why did this man, who is off his head, come to you? And he said to them, You have knowledge of the man and of his talk.

And they said, That is not true; now give us his story. Then he said, This is what he said to me: The Lord says, I have made you king over Israel.

But King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to get well from the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him when he was fighting against Hazael, king of Aram.) And Jehu said, If this is your purpose, then let no one get away and go out of the town to give news of it in Jezreel.

So Jehu got into his carriage and went to Jezreel, for Joram was ill in bed there; and Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come down to see Joram.

And the watchman on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu and his band coming, and said, I see a band of people. And Joram said, Send out a horseman to them, and let him say, Is it peace?

So a horseman went out to them and said, The king says, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What have you to do with peace? come after me. And the watchman gave them word, saying, The horseman went up to them, but has not come back.

Then he sent out a second horseman, who came up to them and said, The king says, Is it peace? And Jehu said in answer, What have you to do with peace? come after me.

And the watchman gave them word, saying, He went up to them and has not come back again; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, for he is driving violently.

Then Joram said, Make ready. So they made his carriage ready; and Joram, king of Israel, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out in their carriages for the purpose of meeting Jehu; and they came face to face with him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite.

Then Joram, turning his horses in flight, said to Ahaziah, Broken faith, O Ahaziah!

Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain, Take him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for is not that day in your memory when you and I together on our horses were going after Ahab, his father, and the Lord put this fate on him, saying:

Now when Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this, he went in flight by the way of the garden house. And Jehu came after him and said, Put him to death in the same way; and they gave him a death-wound in his carriage, on the slope up to Gur, by Ibleam; and he went in flight to Megiddo, where death came to him.

And his servants took him in a carriage to Jerusalem, and put him into the earth with his fathers in the town of David.

And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel had news of it; and, painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window.

Then, looking up to the window, he said, Who is on my side, who? and two or three unsexed servants put out their heads.

And he came in, and took food and drink; then he said, Now see to this cursed woman, and put her body into the earth, for she is a king's daughter.

And they went out to put her body into the earth, but nothing of her was to be seen, only the bones of her head, and her feet, and parts of her hands.

And the dead body of Jezebel will be like waste dropped on the face of the earth in the heritage of Jezreel; so that they will not be able to say, This is Jezebel.

Now there were in Samaria seventy of Ahab's sons. And Jehu sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of the town, and to the responsible men, and to those who had the care of the sons of Ahab, saying,

But they were full of fear, and said, The two kings have gone down before him: how may we keep our place?

So the controller of the king's house, with the ruler of the town, and the responsible men, and those who had the care of Ahab's sons, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants and will do all your orders; we will not make any man king; do whatever seems best to you.

Then he sent them a second letter, saying, If you are on my side, and if you will do my orders, come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow, with the heads of your master's sons. Now the king's seventy sons were with the great men of the town, who had the care of them.

And when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and put them to death, all the seventy, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

And a man came and said to him, They have come with the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Put them down in two masses at the doorway of the town till the morning.

And in the morning he went out and, stopping, said to all the people there, You are upright men: it is true that I made designs against my master, and put him to death; but who is responsible for the death of all these?

So Jehu put to death all the rest of the seed of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his relations and his near friends and his priests, till there were no more of them.

Then he got up and came to Samaria. And he was at the meeting-place of the keepers of sheep, by the way,

When he came across the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah; we are going down to see the children of the king and of the queen.

And he said, Take them living. So they took them living, and put them to death in the water-hole of Beth-eked; of the forty-two men he put every one to death;

And when he had gone away from there, he came across Jehonadab, the son of Rechab: and he said good-day to him, and said to him, Is your heart true to mine, as mine is to yours? And Jehonadab in answer said, It is; and Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand, and he made him come up into his carriage.

And when he came to Samaria, he put to death all those of Ahab's family who were still in Samaria, till there were no more of them, as the Lord had said to Elijah.

Then Jehu got all the people together and said to them, Ahab was Baal's servant in a small way, but Jehu will be his servant on a great scale.

Now send for all the prophets of Baal and all his servants and all his priests, to come to me; let no one keep away: for I have a great offering to make to Baal; anyone who is not present, will be put to death. This Jehu did with deceit, his purpose being the destruction of the servants of Baal.

And Jehu sent out through all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, not one kept away. And they came into the house of Baal, so that it was full from end to end.

And Jehu said to him who kept the robes, Get out robes for all the servants of Baal. So he got out robes for them.

And Jehu, with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the house of Baal; and he said to the servants of Baal, Make a search with care, to see that no servant of the Lord is with you, but only servants of Baal.

Then they went in to make offerings and burned offerings. Now Jehu had put eighty men outside, and said to them, If any man whom I give into your hands gets away, the life of him who lets him go will be the price of his life.

Then when the burned offering was ended, straight away Jehu said to the armed men and the captains, Go in and put them to death; let not one come out. So they put them to the sword; and, pulling the images to the earth, they went into the holy place of the house of Baal.

The altar of Baal was pulled down and the house of Baal was broken up and made an unclean place, as it is to this day.

So Jehu put an end to the worship of Baal in Israel.

But Jehu did not keep himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and the evil he made Israel do; the gold oxen were still in Beth-el and in Dan.

And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in doing what is right in my eyes and effecting all my purpose for the family of Ahab, your sons will be kings of Israel to the fourth generation.

But Jehu did not take care to keep the law of the Lord with all his heart: he did not keep himself from the sin which Jeroboam did and made Israel do.

And Jehu went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son became king in his place.

Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she had all the rest of the seed of the kingdom put to death.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, with the woman who took care of him, away from among the king's sons who were put to death, and put him in the bedroom; and they kept him safe from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death.

And he gave them orders, saying, This is what you are to do: the third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the king's house,

And the two divisions of you, who go out on the Sabbath and keep the watch of the house of the Lord,

Will make a circle round the king, every man being armed; and whoever comes inside your lines is to be put to death; keep with the king, when he goes out and when he comes in.

And the captains of hundreds did as Jehoiada the priest gave them orders; every one took with him his men, those who came in and those who went out on the Sabbath, and they came in to Jehoiada the priest.

And the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and body-covers which had been King David's, and which were kept in the house of the Lord.

Then the armed men took up their positions, every man with his instruments of war in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left, round about the altar and the house.

Then he made the king's son come out, and put the crown on him and the arm-bands, and made him king, and put the holy oil on him; and they all, making sounds of joy with their hands, said, Long life to the king.

Now Athaliah, hearing the noise made by the people, came to the people in the house of the Lord;

Then Jehoiada the priest gave orders to those who were placed in authority over the army, saying, Take her outside the lines, and let anyone who goes after her be put to death with the sword, for he said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.

So they put their hands on her, and she went to the king's house by the doorway of the horses, and there she was put to death.

Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and had it pulled down: its altars and images were all broken to bits, and Mattan, the priest of Baal, they put to death before the altars. And the priest put overseers over the Lord's house.

Then he took the captains of hundreds, and the Carians, and the armed men, and all the people of the land; and they came down with the king from the house of the Lord, through the doorway of the armed men, to the king's house. And he took his place on the seat of the kings.