The Bible Story Part 192

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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 to them, "Ye know the man and what his talk was."

And 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.'"

Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, "Jehu is king."

So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nims.h.i.+ conspired against Joram. ( Now Joram kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria: but King Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.)

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."

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. Now 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 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?'"

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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 up to them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nims.h.i.+; for he driveth furiously."

And 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 field which had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. And it came to pa.s.s, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?"

And he answered, "What peace, so long as the evil deeds of thy mother Jezebel and her witch crafts are so many?"

And Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, "There is treachery, O Ahaziah."

And 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.

Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, "Take him up, and cast him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for {161} remember how, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him; 'Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,' saith the Lord; 'and I will requite thee in this field,'

saith the Lord. Now therefore cast him into this piece 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 smote him on the way. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David.

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyelids, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, "Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master's murderer?"

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 servants.

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 trampled her under foot. And when he was come in, he ate and drank; and he said, "See now to 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 {162} hands. Wherefore they came again 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 rampart of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.'"

_How Elisha Had a Last Talk with the King_.

Now after many days Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the hors.e.m.e.n thereof!"

And Elisha said to him, "Take bow and arrows": and he took unto him bow and arrows.

And he said to the king of Israel, "Put thine hand upon the bow": and he put his hand upon it.

And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, "Open the window eastward": and he opened it.

Then Elisha said, "Shoot": and he shot.

And he said, "The Lord's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them."

And he said, "Take the arrows": and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Smite upon the ground": and he smote thrice, and stopped.

And the man of G.o.d was wroth with him, and said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."

And Elisha died, and they buried him.

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TALES OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE

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THE STORY OF JONAH.

THE STORY OF A PROPHET TO WHOM G.o.d TAUGHT IN A WONDERFUL WAY THE LESSON OF OBEDIENCE.

_How Jonah Reluctantly Brought a Message of Repentance and Salvation to Nineveh_.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."

But Jonah rose up to flee to Tars.h.i.+sh from the presence of the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and found a s.h.i.+p going to Tars.h.i.+sh: so he paid his fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tars.h.i.+sh from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the s.h.i.+p was likely to be wrecked. Then the sailors were afraid, and cried every man to his G.o.d; and they cast forth the cargo of the s.h.i.+p into the sea, to lighten it. But Jonah was gone below: and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy G.o.d, if so be that G.o.d will think upon us, that we perish not."

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