he said, 'To thee, O captain.' And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, 'Thus saith the LORD GOD of Israel—

'I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, ' even over Israel. And 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.'

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? wherefore came this mad 'fellow to thee?' And he said unto them, 'Ye know the man, and his communication.' And they said, 'It is false; tell us now.' And he said, 'Thus and thus spake 'he to me, saying, "Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed 'thee king over Israel." Then they hasted, 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.

And Jehu said, 'If it be your minds, 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 was come down to see Joram. And there stood a watchman 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 an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, "Is it 'peace?" So 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 again.' Then he sent out a second on horseback, which 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.' And the watchman told, saying, 'He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the 'driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for 'he driveth 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 portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, 'Take up, and cast him in the 'portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remem'ber how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab 'his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him. Now 'therefore take and cast him into the plat 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, 'Smite him also in the chariot.' And they did so at the going up to 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 sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, 'Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?'

And 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 eunuchs. 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 trode her under foot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, 'Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: 'for she is a king's daughter.' 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. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, 'This is the word of 'the LORD, which He spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying

'In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: ' and the carcase 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."

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, and the captains with the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king's son.

And he commanded them, saying, 'This is the thing that 6 ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the 'Sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house; and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and 6 a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye 'keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down. And two parts of all you that go forth on the Sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD ' about the king. And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand and he ' that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be 'ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.'

And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the Sabbath, with them that should go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, 'GOD save the king.' And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD. And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, 'Treason! trea'son !' But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto

them, 'Have her forth without the ranges: and him that 'followeth her kill with the sword.'

And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; between the king also and the people. And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over LORD. And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

the house of the

Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign. In the seventh year of Jehu Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew