The Pillars of Three Faiths: Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran. Various Authors

him; and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites that compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents. ²²Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, unto this day. Then did Libnah revolt at the same time. ²³And 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? ²⁴And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

      ²⁵In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. ²⁶Two 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. ²⁷And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was 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. ²⁸And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead; and the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had given him at Ramah, when he fought 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 sick.

       9And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said unto him: 'Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ²And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber. ³Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.' ⁴So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said: 'I have an errand to thee, O captain.' And Jehu said: 'Unto which of us all?' And he said: 'To thee, O captain.' ⁶And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. ⁷And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy 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. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. ⁹And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰And 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.

      ¹¹Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord; and one said unto him: 'Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee?' And he said unto them: 'Ye know the man and what his talk was.' ¹²And they said: 'It is false; tell us now.' And he said: 'Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel.' ¹³Then they hastened, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the horn, saying: 'Jehu is king.'

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.—Now Joram had been guarding Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Aram; ¹⁵but king ¹Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Aram.—And Jehu said: 'If this be your mind, then let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.' ¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

      ¹⁷Now the watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied 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?' ¹⁸So there went one on horseback to meet him, and 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, but he cometh not back.' ¹⁹Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said: 'Thus saith the king: Is it peace?' And Jehu answered: 'What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.' ²⁰And the watchman told, saying: 'He came even unto them, and cometh not back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.'

      ²¹And 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 found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²And 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 thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?' ²³And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah: 'There is treachery, O Ahaziah.' ²⁴And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and smote Joram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. ²⁵Then said [Jehu] to Bidkar his captain: 'Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord pronounced this burden against him: ²⁶Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plot, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the Lord.'

      ²⁷But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said: 'Smite him also in the chariot'; [and they smote him] at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

      ²⁹And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

      ³⁰And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window. ³¹And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said: 'Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master's murderer?' ³²And he lifted up his face to the window, and said: 'Who is on my side? who?' And there looked out to him two or three officers. ³³And 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 she was trodden under foot. ³⁴And when he was come in, he did eat and drink; and he said: 'Look now after this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.' ³⁵And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. ³⁶Wherefore they came back, 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 portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; ³⁷and the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say: This is Jezebel.'

      10Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and unto them that brought up [the sons of]Ahab, saying: ²'And now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and armour; ³look ye out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.' ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: 'Behold, the two kings stood not before him; how then shall we stand?' ⁵And he that was over the household, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and they that brought up the children, sent to Jehu, saying: 'We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any man king; do thou that which is good in thine eyes.' ⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying: 'If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time.' Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. ⁷And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew them, even seventy persons,