II KINGS CHAPTER 7 - 12

2 KINGS 7

1 Elisha said “Now hear YHWH’s word,
So says YHWH, ‘Tomorrow’s inured
When a measure of fine flour’s price
Shall be a shekel, and then twice
That much of barley for the same
In the gate of Samaria’s fame.’”
2 An officer upon whose hand
The king leaned answered sans command
The man of Ælohim, and said
“See, if YHWH made windows instead
In the sky could this thing occur?”
And he said “See, you’ll see it, sir,
But not eat a bite of the bread.”

You try the faith of men too hard when You
Make prophets say things that cannot be true
By everything men know of life and power.
You create infidelity the hour
You speak to humankind. No doubt that’s why
You are so silent after Sinai’s try.
It is a grace that human ears hear not
The cantillations of Your heavenly plot.
The human heart cannot believe the song,
And so in unbelief turns to the wrong.
I sit is silence of the spheres and wake
My doubting heart to melodies that take
The universe by arm and ear and make
Of the great dance a tentpin and a stake.

3 Four leprous men sat at the gate,
Said to each other, “Why tempt fate
Just sitting here until we die?
4 “If we say ‘We’ll go on the sly
Into the city,” famine’s there
And death will only be our share.
And if we stay here we’ll die too.
So now then let’s be up and do,
Surrender to the Syrian host,
And if they save us, we can boast,
And if the kill us in the fray,
We’ll just be dead in the same way.”

No matter what we do in life for truth,
A man’s condemned to die if not in youth
At least in old age. Does the argument
Then follow that I should enter the tent
Nearest the city to find bread unspent
And feast till morning? Should I tell the crowd
Upon the wall what I have found allowed?
Death comes to all, it seems, and yet the tale
Speaks of another time and clime and pale.
Beloved, I rise up from the gallows floor
And turn my bake against the city door
To face the vanished goblins that prevent
My entry into Your feast’s covenant.
I find within the famine plenty’s store.

5 They got up by the evening light
To go into the camp in sight
Of Syrians, and when they came
To the edge of the camp for shame
Of Syria, see, none were there.
6 The Lord had made the Syrian host
Hear noise of chariots and the boast
Of horses, and the heavy sound
Of a great army, they were found
Saying to one another, “Look,
The king of Israel’s played the crook
And hired against us Hittite kings
As well as the Egyptian rings
To fight against us underlings.”

Fear flies before the reasons guessing that
Assumed seem proven truth and got down pat.
The Syrians were sure that Israel’s king bribed
Egyptians and Hittites with gold imbibed
To fight their war. Illusion seems so safe
To strong man as to every failing waif.
It is not doubt that leads man into wrong
Paths and destruction before angel throng,
But rumours left undoubted and the tale
Told for the truth that punctures iron mail.
Beloved, teach me to doubt the sound of men
And chariots riding on the outer fen.
Beloved, give me to doubt and doubt again
Until I see the sparkle of the sail.

7 And so they got up in the night
And left their tents and in their flight
Their horses, donkeys, all the camp
Just as it was and hit the tramp.
8 So when these lepers found the edge
Of the camp they took privilege
To go in one tent, eat and drink,
And carry from it silver clink
And gold and clothing which they hid,
And came back for another bid,
And took that too, that’s what they did.
9 And then they said to one another,
“What we do’s not right, friend and brother,
Today’s a day of good news and
We don’t say a word, if we stand
Till morning, some evil will fall
On us, now then, get on the ball,
Let’s go tell the king’s house of all.”

In fact most people are not so unselfish here
As those three lepers who got up for fear.
Those men were used to thinking what might be
The result of their actions to their fee.
Their grave disease is what made them look out
For future cuffings and officers’ shout.
Unselfishness created by the rough
In the subservient to me is not enough.
Unselfishness is just a vain conceit
Among those who have luxury of meat.
The city was filled with women who knew
How to boil children, how to serve and chew.
Beloved, save me from my unselfish thought,
And I shall meet you on the dergah spot.

10 They came and called the porter down
To tell him and inform the town,
Saying “We came into the camp
Of Syrians, and see the scamp,
No one was there and not a sound,
But horses tethered all around
With donkeys and tents on the ground.”
11 He called the porters and they told
It to the king’s house and the bold.
12 And the king got up in the night
And told his servants, “I’ll make light
To you what Syrians have done
To us. They know hunger has won,
So they’ve left the camp now to hide
Themselves in the field and to bide,
Saying ‘When they come out of town,
We’ll catch them all alive and down
Into the city when we’ve tried.’”

The king of Israel, for all his weight
Of wrath at the expense of prophet great,
Is wise to the affairs of war and men
And ready to suspect the adder’s den.
Harmless as dove he may or may not be,
Who sent a soldier to the prophet’s fee,
But wise as serpent I show in his rate
Of watching for the Syrians at gate.
Beloved, I too come out to eat the feast
That you have set before me and increased
With watchful eye, lest human hand appear
To quash my joy with an inhuman fear.
Though I doubt not Your love and grace I find
You have made men of quite a different mind.

13 And one of his servants then said
“Please let us take five of the fed
Horses that we still have in town
(See, they are all Israel’s renown,
Since all is consumed by the crown),
And let’s go out and see the dread.”
14 Two chariot horses so they took,
And the king sent to have a look
After the Syrian army, saying
“Go and see if they’re hidden slaying.”

Indeed, two horses are enough, why bother five,
When hardly more than that are still alive?
And yet I still ask with the king why You
Did not demand the prophet come in view
With sacred noise of warfare on the plain
Before the death of that one boy in vain.
What happiness is there in finding out
The city’s safe and Syrian in rout,
Since that boy’s dead and buried in the gut
Of mother and of neighbour, while friend shut
In hiding now is playing in the street?
What comfort is there now in any treat?
Could You not have sent noises just as well
A week before the ringing of the bell?

15 They followed them to Jordan’s stream,
And see all the road like a dream
Was full of clothes and pots they left,
The Syrians hastily bereft.
The messengers came back to tell
The king what they had seen as well.
16 And so the people all went out
And took the spoils of Syrian rout
From all their tents. And so a pound
Of wheaten flour was had at sound
Of just a shekel and the two
Of barley for a shekel due,
According to the word of YHWH.
17 The king set the lord on whose hand
He leaned to have the gate’s command,
And the people trampled him down
In the gate that came in the town,
And he died, as Ælohim’s man
Had said when he spoke to the clan
When the king came down to his van.
18 It happened as Ælohim’s man
Had spoken to the king by plan,
“Two barley measures for the span
Of one shekel and wheaten flour
One measure at a shekel’s power,
Shall be tomorrow at this time
In gate of Samarian mime.
19 And that lord answered to the man
Of Ælohim and said “How can
If be, if YHWH should open up
Windows in the sky, throw a cup,
It could not happen.” And he said
“Look, you will see it where you’re led,
But not taste a crumb of the bread.”
20 And so it turned out for his fate,
The people trampled in the gate,
And so he died at any rate.

I’ve seen the place of trampling in my day,
I visited in Mina once to pay
Respects of pebbles thrown in Satan’s way,
And saw where hundred died beneath the feet
Of others pushed on and beyond retreat.
The horror of the trampling is a thing
Not to be forgotten in the night’s ring
When sleep flees from the eye and heart beats high.
No trampling is a horror under sky.
Beloved, You’ve seen the tramplings humans make
Throughout the history of the earthly cake.
Tell me what rises in Your divine heart
When You awaken to the crushing cart?
Is there a thing You can say for Your sake?

2 KINGS 8

1 Now spoke Elisha to the wife
Whose son he had restored to life,
And said “Get up and go out you
And your house and stay in a crew
Wherever you can find to stay,
For YHWH has called to come this way
A famine, and it will appear
Upon the land for seven year.”
2 The woman got up and obeyed
The word of Ælohim’s man paid,
And she went with her household and
Stayed seven years upon the land
Of Philistines. 3 It happened when
The seven pears had gone again,
The woman came back from the land
Of Philistines, and turned her hand
To the king for her house and land.

Fact is, Beloved, that refugees are not
The product of a very modern plot
Alone, but have been living off the land
Of foreigner and thief on every hand.
Despite the wars, despite the heathen track,
In times past it was possible when lack
Drove one out of one’s lot to find the knack
Even among the Philistines’ command.
Beloved, if those fell primitives of late
Could take in refugees without a wait
And nourish them and cherish them until
A full seven of years had turned the mill,
Why cannot we so civilized and great
Not find a corner for the poor ingrate?

4 The king talked with Gehazi who
Was servant of Ælohim’s gnu,
And said “Please tell me all the things
Of greatness that Elisha brings.”
5 It happened just as he was telling
The king how he had brought excelling
A dead body back to the living,
See the woman he had been giving
Back her son cried unto the king
For her house and her everything.
And Gehazi said “My lord king,
This is the woman and her son
Whom Elisha gave back and won.”
6 When the king asked the wife, she told him.
So the king set one not to scold him
As officer to her and said
“Restore all that was hers and bread
Of all the field from the day that
She left the land till where we’re at.”

Of course, to be a refugee entails
The loss of property and house and nails
If one tries to return to former seat
And eat the former grapes and oil and wheat.
Some king will have taken the spoil for
His own and to increase the royal store.
But something like a resurrection from
The dead might be enough to make the sum
Return to rightful owner if the tale
Is told at the right time in the right scale.
Beloved, I am no refugee nor yet
Land-owner threatened by famine to get
Comfort at home or abroad, I retain
Nomadic status for Your further gain.

7 Elisha came to Damascus,
And Benhadad the king to curse
Of Syria was sick and it
Was told him, saying “The man fit
Of Ælohim has come here flit.”
8 The king said to Hazael, “Now take
A gift in hand and go for sake
Of meeting Ælohim’s man and
Enquire of YHWH by him and stand
To say ‘Shall I get well as planned?’”
9 Hazael went to meet him and took
A present with him, and just look,
Every good thing Damascus makes,
Forty camel loads, no mistakes,
And stood before him saying “Your
Son Benhadad king of the run
Of Syria sent me before
You to ask ‘Shall I when I’m done
Get well of this disease in store?’”
10 Elisha told him, “Go and tell
Him, ‘You will certainly get well.’
But in reality YHWH showed
Me he will die beneath the load.”
11 He tried to keep a poker face
Until he was ashamed a space,
Ælohim’s man burst into tears.
12 Hazael then asked him it appears
“Sir, why are you crying?” And he
Answered, “Because the deviltry
That you will do to Israel’s folk
Came to my mind as I just spoke,
How You will set fire to their forts,
And with swords kill young men in shorts,
And crush their children on the ground,
Ripping up pregnant women found.”
13 And Hazael said “Am I a dog,
That your servant should play the hog?”
Elisha answered, “YHWH showed me
You’ll be king of Syrian spree.”

The evil that I do, Beloved, shocks me
When told before the fact, I’m sure I’m free
From wickedness, and pure a lamb as be,
Until the fatal moment that my hand
Finds justice as I see it requires stand.
No man does wickedness for wickedness,
But for the right the limited access
To truth reveals in illusion at poll.
No one does wickedly of man or troll.
Imagination falters at the sight,
But righteous indignation lifts the light
And arms bear hearts into the fray and fight.
Not slaughter children and the pregnant dam?
Hazael thinks not, and yet, and yet I am.

14 So he left Elisha and came
Back to his master who would aim
To know what Elisha had said.
And he answered, “He without dread
Told me you would rise from your bed.”
15 It happened the next day that he
Took a thick cloth and let it be
In water and spread on his face,
So that he died, and in his place
Reigned Hazael as by decree.

It is no wrong to lie to kings when told
To do the deed by every prophet bold.
To say the truth is for the child and fool,
The lie is every wise man’s faithful tool.
Lie of the future, where’s the sin in that?
No man can know the future and out flat,
But only guess at dim and prophecy.
Of course Elisha’s one whose word may be
Reliable beyond the normal weather.
Lie, lie, and find all men are of one feather.
Beloved, I seek the love of truth and yet
Know that truth stabs me just as well to set
As every king and prophet of the past.
I fly the flag of humankind half-mast.

16 In the fifth year of Joram son
Of Ahab king of Israel won,
Jehoshaphat when he was king
Of Judah, Jehoram took wing,
Jehoshaphat’s son began to
Reign as king of Judean crew.
17 Thirty-two years old was he when
He started to reign over men,
And he reigned for all of eight years
Over Jerusalem for tears.
18 He acted like all Israel’s kings
As did the house of Ahab’s flings,
For Ahab’s daughter was his wife,
And he did evil, he did strife,
Before YHWH’s eyes and all his life.
19 Yet YHWH would not destroy Judah
For David his servant in awe,
Since He promised him to give light
To all of his children in sight.

You promise David a light and a store
Of power beyond the wisdom of earth’s gore.
Even the heart of David, close to Yours,
Was able to open up wicked doors
And let in violence and greed and all
The fateful things that are at beck and call
Of royalty. Beloved, what promise kept
Has been less fraught with power to the inept?
Destroy no state on earth, and You will see
That evil but extends the riot’s spree.
Destroy them all, and You will find the weight
Of suffering first lands on innocent pate.
I flee to David’s promise for the best,
And find reciting Your word longed-for rest.

20 In his days Edom made revolt
From under Judah’s rule like colt,
And made themselves for king a dolt.
21 So Horam went over to Zair,
And all his chariots with his ire,
And he got up by night and struck
The Edomites down in the muck,
And in their chariots their blents,
And the folk fled into their tents.
22 And still Edom revolts till now
From Judah’s rule, Libnah somehow
Revolted at the same powwow.

The heathen revolt from David’s appeal,
And even David’s house has come to feel
The weight of Ahab’s wickedness and spiel
Of Jezebel’s reward for every heel.
Revolt against Jerusalem? I doubt
That revolt will find any good thing out.
The crown and crosier are corrupted now
As when the son of David set the prow
Towards the scientific, heathen rate.
And yet there’s no use to disrupt the great.
The tents of David are repaired to sing
At the recital of the Psalms that ring
The pristine air with clarity of sound
And bring down heaven’s kingdom to the ground.

23 And all the rest of Joram’s acts,
And all he did are written facts
In books of chronicles of kings
Of Judah among other things.
24 And Joram slept with his ancestors,
And buried in their fast sequesters
In David’s city, and his son
Ahaziah his reign begun.
25 In the twelfth year of Joram son
Of Ahab king of Israel’s bun
Did Ahaziah the son of
Jehoram king of Judah’s love
Begin to reign as said above.
26 Ahaziah was twenty-two
Years old when he began to view
His kingdom and he reigned one year
Over Jerusalem with fear.
And his mother was Athaliah,
Daughter of Omri, king to tire
Israel with his wrath and ire.
27 And he acted as all those did
Who came from Ahab’s house, and did
Evil in the eyes of YHWH and
As did the house of Ahab’s band,
For he was son-in-law to stand
In Ahab’s house and at his hand.
28 And he went with Joram the son
Of Ahab to war and to gun
Against Hazael the Syrian king
In Ramoth Gilead to bring.
The Syrians wounded Joram.
29 And king Joram went like a ham
Back to be healed in Jezreel of
The wound the Syrians above
Had given him by Ramah’s glove,
When he fought against Hazael king
Of Syria. And that’s the thing
That made Ahaziah the son
Of Jehoram Judah’s king won
To go down to see Joram son
Of Ahab in Jezreel, because
He was sick and ill in his claws.

No doubt there is reward in every act
Of mercy no matter who makes the pact.
One king goes to another with a box
Of chocolates and long-stemmed roses’ stalks.
It he had stayed at home and not gone out
To fight and war and turn the chariot rout,
He might have kept his health and fitness too.
But that is not the way that princes do.
Beloved, I too have fetched me back for grief
Illness enough, and then begged for relief.
It is the fate of men and women too
To suffer act of virus and of You.
Let this not lay blame where it is not due:
Your innocence is beyond doubt and true.

2 KINGS 9

1 Elisha the prophet called one
Of the students in the school run
To teach the cantillation of
The divine word spoken in love,
And said to him, “Put on your clothes
And take this box of oil I chose,
And go to Ramoth Gilead.
2 “And when you get there, don’t be sad,
But look for Jehu who is son
Of Nimshi, and when you’ve begun
Go in and make him get up from
Among his fellows and to come
Apart into a secret place.
3 “Then take the vial of oil and trace
It on his head and say “So’s said
YHWH, ‘I’ve anointed you now led
To be king over Israel.’
Then open up the door and flee,
And do not stay there openly.”

I too am cantillator of Your Word,
And so might be called son of prophet bird,
But I was never called to oil the king
Or any impostor to crown and sting.
What would they think if I burst in the room
Where generals were planning the world’s doom
And took one aside and with horn of oil
Greased his bald spot to shine like blistered boil?
They’d think me mad, as like, and when I turn
The page the same thing here I can discern.
That’s why You told the man to shut the door
And flee before they figured out the score.
Beloved, nothing has changed, it seems to me,
Since schools of cantillation took their fee.

4 So the young man, the student prophet,
Went to Ramoth Gilead and off it.
5 And when he got there see the chiefs
Of the army sitting for griefs,
And he said “I’ve and errand here
For you, captain.” It would appear
Jehu said “Which of us in brief?”
And he said “To you only, chief.”
6 And he got up, went in the room,
And poured the oil out like perfume
On his head and said to him, “So
Says YHWH Ælohim on the go
In Israel, ‘I anoint you
King over the people of YHWH,
Over Israel to be king true.
7 ‘And you’ll attack your master’s room,
The house of Ahab to its doom,
So I may take vengeance for blood
Of my servants, prophets, in flood,
And blood of all servants of YHWH
In the power of Jezebel’s crew.
8 ‘For Ahab’s whole house shall come down,
And I’ll cut off from Ahab’s town
Every man-child, and the one hidden
And the one left at large unbidden.
9 ‘I’ll make Ahab’s house like the room
Of Jeroboam for its doom,
The son of Nebat, like the band
Of Baasha, Ahijah’s son fanned.
10 ‘The dogs shall eat of Jezebel
In the plot of Jezreel to swell,
And there shall be none there to make
A grave for her and for her sake.’”
And then he opened up the door
And fled and was seen never more.

Beloved, I here rejoice to hear the word
That Jezebel would turn into a turd
That dogs would eat and spread upon the field
Of Jezreel to increase the wheat yield.
The divine light in every human soul
Can be turned to both good and evil goal,
And it is but justice to find the fate
Destruction of the wicked and the great.
Beloved, I always thought the graceful dog
The pinnacle of Your creating log,
And laud Your provision of savoury meat
For every dog with wagging tail to eat.
I doubt the dogs forget to thank Your grace,
But I thank You once more and just in case.

11 Then Jehu came out to the band
Of his lords servants in the land,
And they asked him, “Are all things well?
What did this madman come to tell?”
And he said to them, “It looks like
You know the man and what’s his spike.”
12 And they said, “Not so, tell us now.”
And he said “He told me like this,
And said, ‘So says YHWH not to miss,
I anoint you as Israel’s king.’”
14 Jehu son of Jehoshaphat
Son of Nimshi planned to raise bat
Against Joram. And Joram kept
Ramoth Gilead, and he swept
All Israel there, because the king
Of Syria Hazael’s acting.
15 But king Joram came back to be
Healed in Jezreel of the wounds he
Received from Syrians when he
Fought with Hazael the Syrian king.
And Jehu said “Just keep the thing
In your minds and let no one go
Out or escape the town to show
The thing in Jezreel that we know.”

Amazing here is that Jehu went out
Immediately to carry out the rout.
He might have laughed and put it out of mind.
What made him think anointing of that kind
Would bring success to his rebellious fit?
Apparently he thought Elisha’s wit
In sending a young Bible singer to
Anoint him was sign enough in his view.
Beloved, I see the turning of the stars,
The brush of moon, the rush of sunlit bars,
And know despite the crooning and the shout
That you have secret messengers about.
The president, prime minister do not
Know who is coming up against their plot.

16 So Jehu rode a chariot,
And went to Jezreel where the plot
Of Joram lay. Ahaziah
Who was the king over Judah
Had come down to see Joram’s lot.
17 There stood a watchman on the tower
In Jezreel who spied the power
Of Jehu coming and he said
“I see a band.” And Joram said
“Take a horseman and send to meet
Them asking if it’s peace their treat.”
18 So one went on horse back to greet
Him saying “So says the king here,
‘Are you coming in peace or fear?’”
Jehu said “What’s to do with peace?
Turn in behind me for release.”
The watchman told them saying then,
“The messenger came to the men,
But he’s not coming back again.”
19 So he sent one more on horseback,
Who came to them and said not slack,
“The king asks if you come in peace.”
And Jehu answered, “Do you cease
To do with peace? Join my police.”
20 The watchman spoke again and said
“He came to them but was not led
To return, and the driving’s like
The driving of Jehu to strike,
The son of Nimshi, for he drives
As furiously as with nine lives.”

The driving of Jehu’s so famous that
I hardly can add something to the spat.
More than his driving, I would see the rate
Of turning peaceful messengers in fate
To fight with him against the king and great.
He has a divine mandate. Does he not
Doubt his calling at all? It’s one he got
From a mere stripling who was learning how
To cantillate the Scriptures with clear brow.
The stripling got it from another man,
Albeit famous prophet, still I can
See links to many in the chain. I’d doubt
The mandate till too late in rout
And foil even Your own resplendent plan.

21 And Joram said “Get ready then.”
And his chariot was brought again.
And Joram king of Israel
And Ahaziah king as well
Of Judah went out, each one in
His own chariot, gone to win
Against Jehu, and came in sight
In plot of Naboth Jezreelite.
22 It happened when Joram saw Jehu,
He said “Jehu, is it peace free you?”
And he answered, “What peace is there
As long as your mother’s affair,
Jezebel’s mucking witchcrafts stare
The world in the face everywhere?”

The man is not just headstrong, but he speaks
The gutter language while his angel weeps.
Methinks, Beloved, You chose him to be king
In order to give hanging rope to bring
His reckless driving to a fatal halt.
He talked that way, I know, but was the malt
Worthy of quoting in Scripture’s assault?
We have to read the Scripture as we come
To worship You on Sabbath day in sum,
And then You let such language fill the track
That parents hope their children turn their back
And close their ear. Beloved, You were not wise
To let Jehu be quoted in this guise.
Of course, he only said the truth a smack.

23 And Joram turned his hands and fled
And then to Ahaziah said
“It’s treachery, Ahaziah!”
24 And Jehu drew a bow with paw
And struck Jehoram twixt his arms,
And the arrow went with alarms
Out at his heart and he sank down
In his chariot by the town.
25 Then he said to Bidkar his chief,
“Take up the body for relief
And throw it in the lot and field
Of Naboth Jezreelite to yield
Remembrance how when we two rode
Together after Ahab’s load,
His father, that YHWH laid this thing
Upon him before he was king:
26 ‘Surely I’ve seen yesterday blood
Of Naboth and his sons in flood,’
Says YHWH, ‘and I will requite this
In this very ground not to miss,’
Says YHWH. Now therefore take him out
And throw him on that ground in rout
According to the word of YHWH.”

Your prophecies, Beloved, are often met
With their fulfilment when some heroes get
The nerve to carry out the things You said.
Prophecies are not all in self-fulfilment.
Some wait until the time of faster billment.
So Jehu calls to witness Bidkar and
Throws Jehoram into Naboth’s late land.
I search the Scriptures for a prophecy
Not yet fulfilled to see if I can be
A hero in the northernmost country
By carrying out what You had one say
Upon the dry hills of Israel one day.
Beloved, if nothing else, let my heart know
Fulfilment of the promises You show.

27 And Ahaziah seeing this,
The king of Judah fled to miss
The way of the garden house, while
Jehu followed him by the stile,
And said “Attack him too and in
His own chariot in his sin.”
On the way up to Gur they did,
Which is by Ibleam where he hid.
And he fled to Megiddo then
And there he died beside his men.

A frantic chase across the garden brings
To mind the chase of Adam who took wings
When he found that his backside remained bare
After tasting forbidden fruit to share
With spouse when hidden knowledge tempted him
To lighten his mind with distinctions made
Between the right and wrong. So he was paid.
Jehu was agile, more agile it seems
Than You were, my Beloved, who in my dreams
Calls Adam with such pathos and desire.
Jehu’s is anger’s zeal, not love’s bright fire.
The garden missed the violence. That came
Only upon the barren road for shame.
Megiddo is the place to die in mire.

28 His servant carried him back to
Jerusalem in chariot’s view,
And buried him in his own grave
With his fathers and in the brave
City of David in his cave.
29 Eleventh year of Joram son
Of Ahab was when had begun
Ahaziah to reign upon
The land of Judah and its dawn.
30 When Jehu came to Jezreel then
Jezebel heard, and so again
She painted her face, on her head
Put a crown, from the window shed.
31 As Jehu enter in the gate
She said “What was then Zimri’s fate
Who killed his master for the state?”
32 He lifted up his face to see
The window and said “Who is free
On my side, who?” And there looked out
At him two or three eunuchs stout.
33 And he commanded, “Throw her down.”
So they threw her down on her crown.
And her blood spattered on the wall
And on the horses in her fall,
And he trampled her under foot.
34 And when he had come in he put
Himself to eat and drink and said
“Go see now this cursed hag abed,
And bury her, for she’s offspring
And daughter of a royal king.”

Four men agree without least consultation
To throw a painted queen from window’s station
To be trampled by horse and men until
Her rags are covered in her blood and swill.
The fate of Jezebel is not to spoil
The appetite of new kings in their toil.
An afterthought come too late for the queen.
Men are too ready to honour the scene
With funerals and posies on a grave,
Who thought nothing of tossing one like slave
Upon the pitch. All honour’s in the ditch.
There is no man sincerely lauds the great,
But all think of their own coming estate,
And bank upon the future when they come
With signal praises between nail and thumb.

35 And they went out to bury her,
But they found no more of her fur
Than the skull and the feet and yet
The palms of her hands where they set.
36 And so they came and told him so.
And he said “This is YHWH’s word’s show,
That He spoke by His servant come,
Elijah the Tishbite wherefrom
He said ‘In Jezreel’s plot the dogs
Shall eat Jezebel like the hogs.
37 And Jezebel’s carcass shall be
Like dung on the field’s surface free
In the lot of Jezreel, so they
Can’t say “Here’s Jezebel today.”’”

What happens to the great is rarely fine,
Beloved, and yet all men seek heady wine
Of status and of praise before the crowd.
What happens to the great You speak aloud
Beforehand and in warning of the bit.
But rarely do the great listen to it.
Elijah the Tishbite is still alive,
They say in occultation to contrive
To see the universe from heaven and drive
The fiery chariots along the day
That dipped into the lake where my songs lay.
Beloved, did that Elijah from his perch
Approve of Jezebel’s fate in the lurch?
He had his own contention by the way.

2 KINGS 10

1 Ahab had seventy children in
Samaria. And Jehu wrote
Letters sent to Samarian bin,
To Jezreel’s chiefs and elders and
To those who cared for Ahab’s band
Saying to them not to misquote,
2 “As soon as you get this epistle,
Since your master’s children like thistle
Are with you and chariots and horses,
A fortified town, armour’s courses,
3 “Pick out the best and finest of
The children of your master’s love,
And set him on his father’s throne,
Defend your master’s house alone.”
4 But they were very much afraid
And said “See, two kings were waylaid
Before him, how shall we be stayed?”
5 The chiefs of the house and the city,
The elders also, and with pity
The bringers up of the king’s brood,
Sent to Jehu not being rude,
To say “We are your servants all,
And we shall do right by your call.
We shall not make us any king,
Just do what you think’s the right thing.”
6 And so he wrote again to them
And said “If you are mine, condemn
The heads of the men by my word,
Your master’s children, and come stirred
To me in Jezreeel by this time
Tomorrow. And the king’s son’s crime
Amounted to seventy men who
Were with the great men of that crew
Who brought them up on honey-dew.
7 It happened when the letter came
They took the king’s children for shame
And killed all seventy men and put
Their heads in baskets, left the foot,
And sent to him in Jezreel’s root.

There is no new thing set under the bun,
And Machiavelli did not strive to be
Original in what he wrote for fun.
He just noted what princes faithfully
Perform since time began under the sun.
Jehu was not just reckless in his driving.
He had a plan beneath his maddened cap,
And humour drove him more than any striving
Perhaps because the woman in his lap
Kept body, soul and wit attuned and thriving.
The heads of tyrant’s children innocent,
The bloody cabbages picked from the field,
The dripping pumpkins wherever they went,
Beloved, are harvest of the same old yield.

8 And so a messenger arrived
And told him saying “They’ve contrived
To bring the heads of the king’s sons.”
And he said “Pile them up like buns
In two piles by the city gate
Until the morning actuate.”
9 It happened in the morning that
He went out and stood there where sat
All the people and so he spoke,
“Look here, all you good gentle folk,
Rebelling I rose against king,
And killed him, but who did this thing
To kill young men and each suckling?
10 “Know that no single word shall fail
Of what YHWH, YHWH spoke to avail
Concerning Ahab’s house, for YHWH
Has done what He predicted by
His servant Elijah to ply.”
11 So Jehu killed all who remain
Of Ahab’s house on Jezreel’s plain,
And all his great men, all his kin,
And all his priests, till none stayed in
The land who were of Ahab’s reign.

I truly believe, my Beloved, that You
Raised up Jehu to destroy Ahab’s crew,
And that idolatry and violence
Justified what went on in Jehu’s tents.
Unless You limited the evil score
Upon the world and multiplied the rate
Of every good deed at the kitchen door,
The earth would soon melt down beneath the hate.
And yet I point out, my Beloved, that all
Who wield the gored in hand come to appall
With the disarming excuse that Your will
Is behind all their actions come to chill.
Both righteous kings and evil realize
They are wonderful before divine eyes.

12 He got up, left, and then he came
To Samaria. As his claim
Reached to the shearing house that way,
13 Jehu met the brothers of gay
Ahaziah king of Judah,
And asked them, “Who are you?” And they
Answered, “We are the brothers gay
Of Ahaziah, and we’re going
Down to greet the children we’re knowing
Of king and queen there where they stay.”
14 And he said “Take them all alive.”
And they took them alive to drive
Them to the pit of shearing place,
And killed them there without a trace
All forty-two men, he did not
Leave one alive of those he got.

Forty-two royal martyrs of god Baal
Are thrown alive and dead in one dark pit.
I think of the opposite to avail
Of martyrs in the Wadi Natroun’s grit
Beneath the fortress tower that’s blessed
With graffiti of Ethiopic best
That no one in the monastery now
Can read at all. I took pictures somehow.
All those slain in the world are martyrs to
Some god or devil, to the wrong or true,
And all have their place in the pilgrimage
The line of humans take in sacrilege
Or in the hope of finding under dome
You at last since You were not found at home.

15 When he had left that place he met
Jehonadab of Rechab set
As son coming to meet him there
And he greeted him for his share
Saying “Is your heart true as mine
Is with your heart without design?”
And Jehonadab answered, “Yes.”
“If so, then give your hand, I guess.”
And he gave him his hand and he
Pulled him into the chariot’s fee.
16 And he said “Come with me and see
My zeal for YHWH.” So they made free
To drive him in his chariot wee.

Jehonadab’s a man I must admire,
One who does such feats to which I’d aspire
With grave doubts. I once mounted chariot
Of an acquaintance. All things I forgot
Because they made impressions slight in fear
Rise up once more in visions of my bier.
The man drove like a maniac ten miles
So quickly I could hardly rank my files
Reciting Al-Hamd only three times through
While he flicked past mountain and valley too.
I could have warned Jehonadab not to
Step in the chariot of king Jehu.
Experience, Beloved, in derring do
Avoids the stepping on the crocodiles.

17 On coming to Samaria,
He killed all that were left he saw
Of Ahab, till he’d destroyed all
According to YHWH’s word and call
That He spoke by Elijah’s pall.
18 And Jehu summoned all the folk,
And told them saying as he spoke,
“Ahab served Baal a little, now
Jehu shall serve much anyhow.
19 “So call me all prophets of Baal,
All his servants and priests assail,
Let not be lacking, for I’ve got
A great sacrifice to the plot
Of Baal, and whoever is not
Here, he shall not live.” But Jehu
Had his own cunning in his view
On purpose to destroy at once
Every Baal worshipper and dunce.

Deceit, deceit’s the word, Beloved, I find
In Jehu and in what he had in mind.
Some are cunning as serpents, some like doves
Remain in innocence and misplaced loves.
Beloved, I look in wonder at the way
Jehu was able to track down and bay
The prophets of Baal to destroy the lot.
I admire Jehu and his cunning plot.
Beloved, give me the sense to tell a lie
If I can throw down images thereby
And tip idolators into the sty.
Beloved, let me join in the church and song
Upon a day when it would not be wrong
To set fire to the whole destruction strong.

20 And Jehu said “Proclaim a great
And solemn gathering in state
In honour of Baal.” So they did.
21 Jehu sent all Israel to bid,
And all the worshippers of Baal
Came till not one was left to sail.
And they came in the house of Baal,
Till it was filled from end to veil.
22 He told the keeper of the clothes,
“Bring out garments for all that chose
To worship Baal.” And he brought out
The finest clothing thereabout.
23 Went Jehu and Jehonadab
The son esteemed of one Rechab,
Into the house of Baal and said
To the worshippers of Baal’s head,
“Look out among you that there be
No worshipper of YHWH, but see
The servants of Baal only free.”

There are three conditions I see of late
Permitting this action of terror’s hate.
The first is king Jehu’s divine mandate
(Although such can be had both soon and late
By the imaginings of fools in state).
The second is the certainty the bomb
Will not hurt innocent folks singing Psalm.
The third is to be son of Rechabite,
The people who reject both dark and light
Drink drunk to find the fizzle and the bright.
Only teetotallers have God-given right
To engage in terrorist act and fight.
Beloved, though I have all three reasons here,
I shall commit no violence, I fear.

24 When they went in to sacrifice
And offer up burnt offerings nice,
Jehu set eighty men outside
And said “If anyone abide
Escaping from your hands of those
That I have brought, let his life close
For the life of the escaped rose.”
25 It happened when he finished making
The burnt offering, Jehu was shaking
The guard and captains and he told
Them, “Go in, kill them all, be bold,
Let none come out.” And they attacked
Them with the mouth of sword intact,
And the guard and captains threw out,
And went to the city in rout
Of the house of Baal without doubt.
26 They brought the idols from the house
Of Baal and burned them not to dowse.
27 They broke of Baal’s idols and broke
Down Baal’s temple and at a stroke
And made it a dump until now.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal somehow
Out from among Israelite folk.
29 Yet the sins of Jeroboam
The son of Nebat for a slam
Against Israel in sin, Jehu
Did not depart from them, in view
The golden calves set in Bethel
And set up there in Dan as well.

Beloved, did they not have a good excuse
For the golden calves in the temple use?
The temple in Jerusalem contained
The ark with cherubim in gold unstained
At each end with their wings outspread to shield
Your presence in the shekinah’s bright field.
The golden calves where merely there to serve
As the foundation of Your throne, not swerve
Into idolatry. Do you not make
Distinction for the golden cattle’s sake?
Indeed You do. The sin is not so much
Idolatry as Baal and Ahab’s touch.
It is political expedience
To keep the people from David’s house’ sense.

30 And YHWH said to Jehu, “Because
You have done well following laws
In my eyes and Ahab’s house destroyed
According as My heart employed,
Your children shall sit on the throne
Of Israel and shall there be known
To four generations enjoyed.”
31 But Jehu did not take care to
Act according to all the view
Of the law of YHWH Ælohim
Of Israel with all his heart’s dream,
For he did not let go the sin
Of Jeroboam who made sin
Israel with a cunning grin.
32 In those day YHWH began to cut
Israel short, and Hazael butt
Them all around Israel’s land’s bin.
33 From Jordan eastward, all the land
Of Gilead, the Gadites, and
The Rebenites, the Nanassites,
From Aroer by Arnon’s lights
And river, Gilead and Bashan.
34 The rest of the acts of the man
Jehu, and all he did and all
His strength, are they not written in
The book of chronicles to win
Of Israel’s kings? 35 And Jehu slept
With his fathers, and his tomb kept
They in Samaria to stay.
And Jehoahaz his son’s sway
Was over the land from that day.
26 The time that Jehu reigned in all
Samaria was to the call
Of twenty-eight years. That was all.

The writer of this word thinks that the fall
Of Israel’s borders was not from the pall
Of Hazael, but from the fact the calves
Were in the house of prayer so that by halves
The people worshipped You. Perhaps the view
Is in the last analysis both true
And relevant to me today as I
Seek to be true to You, Beloved, though shy
To worship in Bethel, Dan or the city
Jerusalem, and more’s to be the pity.
Alone I stand before Your Sabbath throne
To pledge obedience to You alone,
As only my own family’s to share
The blessing of the cantillation there.

2 KINGS 11

1 When Athaliah, mother of
Ahaziah saw, despite love,
That her son was deceased, she rose
And destroyed all the royal beaux.
2 But Jehosheba, daughter of
King Joram, who was sister of
Ahaziah, took Joash son
Of Ahaziah, secret done,
Away from among the king’s sons
Who were being slain at their runs,
And they hid him and his nurse too
In the bedroom, from the crazed stew
Of Athaliah, so that he
Was not killed at all. 3 And so he
Was hidden with her in the house
Of YHWH for six years, like a mouse,
While Athaliah ruled the land.

The palace intrigue as an institution
Is just one more of kingship’s contribution.
Without the regicide there is no motive
For the intrigue at all, it’s merely votive.
So those who blandly push for power’s plea
That without kings and presidents in fee
We all must die victim of anarchy
Are really saying they support the killing
Of kings and kings’ sons, willing or unwilling.
One cannot have the human power to rule
And expect things to spin out smooth as spool.
The competition itself will create
The killing as well as the mutual hate.
Beloved, You are my only king and state.

4 The seventh year Jehoiada
Sent summoning centurions,
With captains and the guard in awe,
And brought them to him with their guns
Into the house of YHWH and made
A contract with them renegade,
And made them swear silence and mum
In the house of YHWH to keep dumb,
And showed them the king’s son had stayed.
5 And he commanded them and said
“This is the thing whereby you’re led,
A third of you who enter in
On the Sabbath shall keep in bin
The watch on the palace royal,
6 “And a third of you at the gate
Of Sur, and a third stand in wait
At the gate behind the guard shall
Keep watch of the house and it be
Not broken down, entered freely.
7 “And two groups of all you that go
Out on the Sabbath, they shall show
Guard of the house of YHWH and yet
About wherever the king’s met.
8 “And you must surround thus the king,
Every man with arrow on string,
And anyone that comes too close,
Let him be killed for such a dose,
And so be with the king when he
Goes out and comes in faithfully.”
9 Centurions did all that he,
Jehoiada the priest made free
To command them, and they took each
Man his men that came within reach
On the Sabbath, with them that go
Out on the Sabbath, came to show
Jehoiada the priest to know.
10 The priest gave the centurions
King David’s spears and shields in tons
That were in the temple of YHWH.
11 And the guard stood, every man armed
Around the king not to be harmed
From the right corner of the temple
To the left corner of the temple,
Along by the altar and temple.
12 And he brought out the king’s son and
Put the crown on his head to stand
And gave him witness, and they made
Him king anointing him and stayed
To clap their hands and said a thing,
Saying again, “God save the king.”

God save the king, they shouted on that day
Of Sabbath and of rest pronounced at last;
Divine right of David’s seed has not passed
South of the border; heaven still has its way.
I see the joys the Sabbath holds in sway
Vibrate across the hearts and throats amassed,
Eager before the temple for the glassed
Triumph to rise and walk, be where it may.
Heal my returns, Beloved, who saw the power
Eating the mantle of the sacred tent,
Knowing the decadence of slacking rite.
I turn, Beloved, to You to buy the hour,
Nothing reserved from hope in silence spent:
Grant me a glimpse of the king in his light.

13 When Athaliah heard the noise
Of the guard and people in joys,
She came to the folk in YHWH’s house.
14 And when she looked about to grouse,
See, the king by a column stood,
As was the custom that he should,
And the princes and trumpeters
Stood by the king, and it appears
All the land’s people there rejoiced,
And blew the trumpets as full-voiced,
And Athaliah tore her clothes,
And cried out, “Treason, treason’s blows.”

The treasures that Your Sabbaths would bequeath,
Robbed of the tinder Athaliah yet
Escapes to find in temple with regret,
Abound despite her; silver bells still breathe.
Sounds of the trumpets, shimmering to wreathe
Out from the stated column where is set
None but boy king anointed without debt,
Triggers the rage, makes wild mother’s heart seethe.
Recall my strategies as I retire,
Evasive, yes, but ready as I put
A period to willingness to concur.
Some plans are best laid on the flashing pyre
Outside the temple where unsacred foot
Nears to the last, Beloved, what You prefer.

15 Jehoiada the priest commanded
Centurions, officers handed,
And told them “Bring her out between
The rows and people and who’s seen
To follow her kill with the sword.”
For the priest said “All above board,
Let her not be killed in YHWH’s house.”
18 They laid hands on her like a louse,
And she went by the way by which
The horses came along the ditch
To the king’s house, there died a stitch.
17 Jehoiada made covenant
Between YHWH and the king present
And the folk that they should be YHWH’s
Folk, and between the king in views
Of all the people in their pews.
18 And all the people of the land
Went into Baal’s house by command
And broke it down, his altars and
His images they broke by hand
In pieces shattered, and they killed
Mattan the priest of Baal well filled
Before the altars. And the priest
Appointed officers increased
Over the house of YHWH released.
19 And he took the centurions,
And the captains and guard in tons,
And all the people of the land,
And they brought down the king in hand
From the house of YHWH and they came
By the way of the guard gate’s claim
To the house of the king. And he
Sat on the kings’ throne faithfully.
20 All the folk in the land rejoiced,
And the city still was unvoiced.
And they killed Athaliah there
With the sword by the king’s house bare.
21 Jehoash was seven years old
When he began to reign the fold.

Athaliah died in outrage and hate
Towards the priest whose machinations found
How to outwit her treason on the ground
Against Judah; such women need no mate.
Lacking both mate and sovereign of her state,
I see her rushing to be crowned or bound
Against priest crafts that forever resound,
Have no mercy on a grandmother’s pate.
Softly I go, Beloved, to see the blood
Drip down to wet the eager lips of earth
Entranced to get a taste of royal share.
Among the soldiers who join with the mud
To rejoice, I still wonder at her worth:
How can I at this age make my sword bare?

2 KINGS 12

1 In the seventh year of Jehu
Jehoash began his reign too,
Forty years in Jerusalem
He ruled. His mother’s name and stem
Was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 Jehoash acted in the awe
Of YHWH all his days when the priest
Jehoiada taught him policed.
3 Yet the high places were not taken
Away, the people’d not forsaken
Sacrifice and burnt incense there
In the high places of the fair.

There never was, it seems, society
Where You’re worshipped without idolatry.
The rods are cast, the pillars set up tall,
The groves well planted by the idol’s wall,
And every one comes to the hidden place
To enjoy company of those who trace
The scientific few that copulation
Is fertility’s only restoration.
The act of love as worship’s a disarming
Rebuttal to refute me, it is charming.
But I still say You have sent down no word
That obedience to You is ever blurred.
I’m still held responsible to the ten
Commandments and I recite them again.

4 Jehoash told the priests, “The coin
Of all things dedicated join
To bring into YHWH’s house, the money
Of everyone passing, the money
That everyone is set at, and
All the money without command
That comes into any man’s heart
To bring into YHWH’s house a part,
5 “Let the priests take it to themselves,
Every man of his own known elves,
And let them refurbish the house
Wherever there is hole of mouse.”
6 But by the time the king had reigned
Twenty-three years they had not deigned,
The priests had not to finish all
The fixing the house to install.

The lesson should have been learned from the time
This story was set down in word and rhyme.
Anything that’s entrusted to the priest
Is like to flounder in the bag at least.
More often more than flounder, one is faced
With the dishonesty of priestly race.
This is exception. When Jehoash made
The rule the priests were honest and well-paid
And could be trusted not to steal the rents.
It was inertia kept them in their tents
Instead of raising funds to fix the house.
All priests are merely nibblers, like a mouse.
Beloved, give me no task with coin to fetch,
It is enough I dig in broom and vetch.

7 Then king Jehoash called the priest
Jehoiada, and every priest,
And said to them, “Why don’t you fix
The house wherein it needs the tricks?
Now then don’t take money yourselves
Of your acquaintances or elves,
To bring it up to fix the house.”
8 The priests consented to receive
No money at the hand and leave
Of the folk neither to repair
The breaches in the house as there.
9 But Jehoiada the priest took
A chest and bored a hole to look
In its lid and set it beside
The altar on the right abide
As one comes in the house of YHWH,
And the priests that kept the door put
In it all the money on foot
That was brought in the house of YHWH.
10 It happened when they saw that there
Was plenty of money to share
In the chest, then the king’s scribe and
The high priest came up by command
And put it up in bags and counted
The money in YHWH’s house amounted.

Just see, Beloved, how well things shape up when
Responsibility is laid on men
Who have their own business and work to do.
They take care of things better than they do
Who are established and paid for the task.
It’s only those whose interest spoils the mask
Are faithful to resort to getting done
What You intended for both work and fun.
Out with the priests! Out with the president!
The way to do things properly well-spent
Is give it to the folk directly bound,
The people who keep their feet on the ground
And do not have a vested interest in
The hidden black agendas of their sin.

11 They gave the counted money to
The ones who did the work in view
Of the house of YHWH, and they laid
It out to carpenters and paid
Builders that worked there all in crew
Upon the repaired house of YHWH.
12 And to the masons and stone cutters
To buy timber and hewed stone shutters
To fix the breaches in the house
Of YHWH, and for fixing the house.
13 But there were not made for the house
Of YHWH bowls of silver and such
Snuffers, basins, trumpets as much
Or any golden vessels or
Vessels of silver of the store
Of money brought into YHWH’s house.
14 But they gave it all at the door
To the workmen fixing YHWH’s house.
15 They did not check up on the men
Who gave the money out again
To the workmen, because they dealt
Faithfully in all that they felt.
16 The trespass and sin offering though
Was not brought to YHWH’s house for show,
It was the priests’ own at a go.

I should not recommend this rate to keep
The records of the money in one’s sleep.
The fact is in the time of Joash men
Were honest if corrupted by the den
Of the establishment, they still could work
On the said wages and forget to shirk.
Let me take my lesson from those who were
The best of Your beloved who’d ever stir,
That money can be given into the hand
The honest workman under Your command,
But even in the rare case that all men
Are lovers of Your truth they fail again
If set in institutions with fine names.
Let me learn, my Beloved, or take the blames.

17 Hazael Syrian king went up
And fought against Gath like a tup
And took it, and Hazael set face
To go to Jerusalem’s place.
18 Jehoash king of Judah took
All the sacred things from the nook
Of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram
And Ahaziah to a dram
As well as his own hallowed things,
And all the gold found in the wings
Of YHWH’s house and the house of kings,
And sent it to Hazael the king
Of Syria, and he went away
From Jerusalem for that pay.

Gold is a wondrous thing, though of no worth.
One cannot eat or drink it on the earth.
One cannot wear it nor does it make warm.
Of greater value are the bees in swarm.
And if it buys one’s safety from the crook
And leaves one in peace to read in Your book.
Beloved, give me the gold I need to buy
The freedom to live under Your fair sky.
And yet I feel the pang of those who’ve not
Got what it takes to turn tanks from their plot.
The gold and oil found in the ground attracts
The wicked rich to perpetrate their acts.
Beloved, the rich and poor both lower head
To escape the blades of the golden fed.

19 The rest of Joash’s acts and
All that he did, all at his hand,
Are they not written in the book
Of chronicles that the kings took
In Judah? Go and have a look.
20 And his servants got up and made
Conspiracy and so waylaid
Joash in Millo’s house when you
Go down to Silla for the view.
21 For Joazchar Shimeath’s son,
And Jehozabad who was son
Of Shomer, his servants struck him
Down so he died, and it was grim.
They buried him with his own folk
In David’s city at a stroke
And Amaziah his son reigned
In his place for the throne he gained.

To be a good king does not relieve one
Of the conspiracy of evil done.
An ordinary man sometimes can find
Agreement with the populace to bind
Him in his safety, since he does not try
To rule or steal the populace of rye.
But kings are always in the line of fire.
I contemplate them myself in my ire.
A righteous king like Joash is more like
Than wicked ones to get stuck on the pike.
Beloved, You should have intervened to keep
Joash safe in his palace and his sleep
As well as in the house of Millo’s field.
There’s no explaining of the sword You wield.


AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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