Jehu Anointed King of Israel

9 Then Elisha the prophet called one of ^(A)the sons of the prophets and said to him, ^(B)“Tie up your garments, and take this ^(C)flask of oil in your hand, and go to ^(D)Ramoth-gilead. ² And when you arrive, look there for Jehu ^(E)the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among ^(F)his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber. ³ Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, ‘Thus says the Lord, ^(G)I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”

⁴ So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵ And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council. And he said, “I have a word for you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander.” ⁶ So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(H)I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷ And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge ^(I)on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. ⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, ^(J)and I will cut off from Ahab ^(K)every male, ^(L)bond or free, in Israel. ⁹ And I will make the house of Ahab like ^(M)the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like ^(N)the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. ^10 (O)And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled.

¹¹ When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, ^(P)“Is all well? Why did ^(Q)this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the fellow and his talk.” ¹² And they said, “That is not true; tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and so he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’” ¹³ Then in haste ^(R)every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare^[a] steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, ^(S)“Jehu is king.”

Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal

¹⁸ Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, ^(A)“Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹ Now therefore call to me all the ^(B)prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. ²⁰ And Jehu ordered, ^(C)“Sanctify ^(D)a solemn assembly for Baal.” So ^(E)they proclaimed it. ²¹ And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered ^(F)the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. ²² He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them. ²³ Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” ²⁴ Then they^[a] went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape ^(G)shall forfeit his life.” ²⁵ So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, ^(H)“Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, ²⁶ and they brought out the ^(I)pillar that was in ^(J)the house of Baal and burned it. ²⁷ And they demolished the ^(K)pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it ^(L)a latrine to this day.

Jehu Reigns in Israel

²⁸ Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. ²⁹ But Jehu did not turn aside from ^(M)the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(N)which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.