12. Jehoram received this letter from Elijah the prophet: “This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘You have not followed in the footsteps of your father Jehoshaphat and of King Asa of Judah,
13. but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel. You also killed your brothers, members of your father’s family, who were better than you.
14. So look, the Lord is about to severely afflict your people, your sons, your wives, and all you own.
15. And you will get a serious, chronic intestinal disease which will cause your intestines to come out.”
16. The Lord stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines and the Arabs who lived beside the Cushites.
17. They attacked Judah and swept through it. They carried off everything they found in the royal palace, including his sons and wives. None of his sons was left, except for his youngest, Ahaziah.
18. After all this happened, the Lord afflicted him with an incurable intestinal disease.
19. After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death. His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors.
20. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death; he was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal tombs.