16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah.
17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.
18 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord .
19 Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king.
21 So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home.
22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
23 As for the other events of Jehoram's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
24 Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.
26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother's name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord , as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab's family.
28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram;
29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
9 The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, 'Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead.
2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room.
3 Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, 'This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and run; don't delay!'
4 So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.
5 When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. 'I have a message for you, commander,' he said. 'For which of us?' asked Jehu. 'For you, commander,' he replied.
6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu's head and declared, 'This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: 'I anoint you king over the Lord 's people Israel.
7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord 's servants shed by Jezebel.
8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel-slave or free.
9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.
10 As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.' ' Then he opened the door and ran.
11 When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, 'Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?' 'You know the man and the sort of things he says,' Jehu replied.
12 'That's not true!' they said. 'Tell us.' Jehu said, 'Here is what he told me: 'This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.' '
13 They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, 'Jehu is king!'
14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram,
15 but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, 'If this is the way you feel, don't let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.'
16 Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.
17 When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu's troops approaching, he called out, 'I see some troops coming.' 'Get a horseman,' Joram ordered. 'Send him to meet them and ask, 'Do you come in peace?' '
