Thirtieth Sunday.
THE RUIN OF AHAB'S HOUSE.
FIRST READING.
"What hast thou to do with peace."—2 Kings 9:18.
THE Sunday before last you heard how King Ahab was killed in battle, though he had fancied that he could hide from God. His wife, Queen Jezebel, was left; and she had always been worse than he was, and she had brought up her son Joram to be very wicked too. When Joram had reigned as king for twelve years, God told His Prophet Elijah to send a young man to anoint a captain called Jehu to be king instead of Joram. So the young man took some oil, and went to the town where Jehu was, and said, "I have an errand to thee, O captain." Then he poured the oil on Jehu's head, and told him that God made him king of Israel.
The other captains were glad to make Jehu king, and they made him sit on the top of a flight of steps, and blew with their trumpets, and shouted, "Jehu is king." Then they all set out to conquer King Joram.