²⁰ Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace^[a](A) and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose^(B) from his seat, ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword^(C) from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. ²² Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. ²³ Then Ehud went out to the porch^[b]; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

¹⁰ Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay^(A) there whenever he comes to us.”

¹¹ One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there.

² When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room.

³ Then take the flask and pour the oil^(A) on his head and declare, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”