And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I slay them? shall I slay them?

And he prepared a great feast for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.

And he said, If the LORD does not help you, how shall I help you? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?

And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth beneath upon his flesh.

Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?

Then Elisha said, Hear you the word of the LORD; Thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.

And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the army of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the edge of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried from there also, and went and hid it.

Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.

So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.

And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.

And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray you, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

And they went after them unto the Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.

And the people went out, and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.

And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:

And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.

And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.

And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray you, all the great things that Elisha has done.

And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

And Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God has come here.

And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in your hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

And he set his countenance and stared, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept.

And Hazael said, Why do you weep my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that you will do unto the children of Israel: their strongholds will you set on fire, and their young men will you slay with the sword, and will dash their children, and rip up their women with child.

And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled into their tents.

Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.

Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.

And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead:

And when you come there, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and take him to an inner chamber;

Then take the flask of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus says the LORD, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting; and he said, I have a message to you, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of us? And he said, To you, O captain.

And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.

And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond and free that is left in Israel:

And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:

And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? why came this mad fellow to you? And he said unto them, You know the man, and his communication.

Then they hastened, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.

So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had defended Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria.

But king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this is your mind, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.

So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu 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?

And the watchman reported, saying, He came even unto them, and comes not back: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.

And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

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

Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take him up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and you rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;

Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says the LORD; and I will repay you in this plot, says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD.

But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Shoot him also in the chariot. And they did so at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David.

And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and adorned her head, and looked out at a window.

And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot.

And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

Therefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the territory of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:

And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as refuse upon the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying,

Choose the best and fittest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the guardians of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and will do all that you shall bid us; we will not make any king: do you that which is good in your eyes.

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you are mine, and if you will hearken unto my voice, take you the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

And there came a messenger, 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.

Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.

So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his close associates, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we are going down to greet 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 pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men: neither left he any of them.

And when he was departed there, He met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he greeted him, and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spoke to Elijah.

Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be missing: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be missing, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other.

And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.

And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

And it came to pass, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.

And they broke down the image of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a refuse dump unto this day.

Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, that is, from the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.

In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel: and Hazael defeated them in all the territory of Israel;