2nd Kings — 9

Yahu Anointed King of Yashar'AL 

1 Meanwhile, Alysha the Nabym had summoned a member of the group of Nabym. “Get ready to travel,” he told him, “and take this flask of olive oil with you. Go to Ramuth-gilead, 

2 and find Yahu son of Yahushaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends, 

3 and pour the oil over his head. Say to him, ‘This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar: I anoint you to be the king over Yashar'AL.’ Then open the door and run for your life!”

4 So the young Nabym did as he was told and went to Ramuth-gilaad. 

5 When he arrived there, he found Yahu sitting around with the other army officers. “I have a message for you, Commander,” he said. “For which one of us?” Yahu asked. “For you, Commander,” he replied.

6 So Yahu left the others and went into the house. Then the young Nabym poured the oil over Yahu’s head and said, “This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, the 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH of Yashar'AL, says: I anoint you king over  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s people, Yashar'AL. 

7 You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my Nabyms and all the servants of  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH who were killed by Yazabaal. 

8 The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Yashar'AL. 

9 I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Yarubuam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahiyahu. 

10 Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Yazabaal at the plot of land in Yazraal, and no one will bury her.” Then the young Nabym opened the door and ran.

11 Yahu went back to his fellow officers, and one of them asked him, “What did that madman want? Is everything all right? “You know how a man like that babbles on,” Yahu replied.

12 “You are hiding something,” they said. “Tell us.” So Yahu told them, “He said to me, ‘This is what 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar: I have anointed you to be king over Yashar'AL.’”

13 Then they quickly spread out their cloaks on the bare steps and blew the ram’s horn, shouting, “Yahu is king!”

Yahu Kills Yuram and Ahazyahu 

14 So Yahu son of Yahushaphat, son of Nimshi, led a conspiracy against King Yuram. (Now Yuram had been with the army at Ramuth-gilaad, defending Yashar'AL against the forces of King Hazaal of Aram. 

15 But King Yuram was wounded in the fighting and returned to Yazraal to recover from his wounds.) So Yahu told the men with him, “If you want me to be king, do not let anyone leave town and go to Yazraal to report what we have done.”

16 Then Yahu got into a chariot and rode to Yazraal to find King Yuram, who was lying there wounded. King Ahazyahu of Yahudah was there too, for he had gone to visit him. 

17 The watchman on the tower of Yazraal saw Yahu and his company approaching, so he shouted to Yuram, “I see a company of troops coming! “Send out a rider to ask if they are coming in Shalum,” King Yuram ordered.

18 So a horseman went out to meet Yahu and said, “The king wants to know if you are coming in Shalum.” Yahu replied, “What do you know about Shalum? Fall in behind me!” The watchman called out to the king, “The messenger has met them, but he is not returning.”

19 So the king sent out a second horseman. He rode up to them and said, “The king wants to know if you come in Shalum.” Again Yahu answered, “What do you know about Shalum? Fall in behind me!”

20 The watchman exclaimed, “The messenger has met them, but he is not returning either! It must be Yahu son of Nimshi, for he is driving like a madman.”

21 “Quick! Get my chariot ready!” King Yuram commanded. Then King Yuram of Yashar'AL and King Ahazyahu of Yahudah rode out in their chariots to meet Yahu. They met him at the plot of land that had belonged to Nabuth of Yazraal. 

22 King Yuram demanded, “Do you come in Shalum, Yahu?” Yahu replied, “How can there be Shalum as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Yazabaal, are all around us?”

23 Then King Yuram turned the horses around and fled, shouting to King Ahazyahu, “Treason, Ahazyahu!” 

24 But Yahu drew his bow and shot Yuram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he sank down dead in his chariot.

25 Yahu said to Bidkar, his officer, “Throw him into the plot of land that belonged to Nabuth of Yazraal. Do you remember when you and I were riding along behind his father, Ahab?  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH pronounced this message against him: 

26 ‘I solemnly swear that I will repay him here on this plot of land, says 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, for the murder of Nabuth and his sons that I saw yesterday.’ So throw him out on Nabuth’s property, just as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Dabar.”

27 When King Ahazyahu of Yahudah saw what was happening, he fled along the road to Bath-haggan. Yahu rode after him, shouting, “Shoot him, too!” So they shot Ahazyahu in his chariot at the Ascent of Gur, near Iblaam, he was able to go on as far as Magiddu, but he died there. 

28 His servants took him by chariot to Yahushalam, where they buried him with his ancestors in the City of Daud. 

29 Ahazyahu had become king over Yahudah in the eleventh year of the reign of Yuram son of Ahab.

The Death of Yazabaal 

30 When Yazabaal, the queen mother, heard that Yahu had come to Yazraal, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window. 

31 When Yahu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, “Have you come in Shalum, you murderer? You’re just like Zimri, who murdered his master!”

32 Yahu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, “Who is on my side?” And two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 

33 “Throw her down!” Yahu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Yahu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves.

34 Then Yahu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.” 

35 But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.

36 When they returned and told Yahu, he stated, “This fulfills the message from  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, which he spoke through his servant AliYahu from Tishba: ‘At the plot of land in Yazraal, dogs will eat Yazabaal’s body. 

37 Her remains will be scattered like dung on the plot of land in Yazraal, so that no one will be able to recognize her.’”