¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ¹⁸ “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. ¹⁹ Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’^(A) Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood,^(B) dogs^(C) will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!”^(D)

“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold^(E) yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. ²¹ He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male^(F) in Israel—slave or free.^{[a](G) 22} I will make your house^(H) like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’^(I)

²³ “And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs^(J) will devour Jezebel by the wall of^[b] Jezreel.’

²⁴ “Dogs^(K) will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds^(L) will feed on those who die in the country.”

²⁵ (There was never^(M) anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. ²⁶ He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites^(N) the Lord drove out before Israel.)

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth^(O) and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.^(P)

²⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ²⁹ “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled^(Q) himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day,^(R) but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”^(S)

²⁵ Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy^(A) against him: ²⁶ ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth^(B) and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’^[a] Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”^(C)

²⁷ When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan.^[b] Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam,^(D) but he escaped to Megiddo^(E) and died there. ²⁸ His servants took him by chariot^(F) to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. ²⁹ (In the eleventh^(G) year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)

Jezebel Killed

³⁰ Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup,^(H) arranged her hair and looked out of a window. ³¹ As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri,^(I) you murderer of your master?”^[c]

³² He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. ³³ “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.^(J)

³⁴ Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.”^{(K) 35} But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. ³⁶ They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs^(L) will devour Jezebel’s flesh.^{[d](M) 37} Jezebel’s body will be like dung^(N) on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”