2 Kings 10

1 Now there were in Samaria seventy of Ahab's sons. And Jehu sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of the town, and to the responsible men, and to those who had the care of the sons of Ahab, saying,

Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up the sons of Ahab, saying,

2 Straight away, when you get this letter, seeing that your master's sons are with you, and that you have carriages and horses and a walled town and arms;

And now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, also a fortified city, and armor,

3 Take the best and most upright of your master's sons, and make him king in his father's place, and put up a fight for your master's family.

look ye out for the best and fittest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

4 But they were full of fear, and said, The two kings have gone down before him: how may we keep our place?

But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings did not stand before him. How then shall we stand?

5 So the controller of the king's house, with the ruler of the town, and the responsible men, and those who had the care of Ahab's sons, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants and will do all your orders; we will not make any man king; do whatever seems best to you.

And he who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who brought up the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shall bid us. We will not make any man king. Do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

6 Then he sent them a second letter, saying, If you are on my side, and if you will do my orders, come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow, with the heads of your master's sons. Now the king's seventy sons were with the great men of the town, who had the care of them.

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken to my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city who reared them.

7 And when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and put them to death, all the seventy, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and killed them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.

8 And a man came and said to him, They have come with the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Put them down in two masses at the doorway of the town till the morning.

And a messenger came, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

9 And in the morning he went out and, stopping, said to all the people there, You are upright men: it is true that I made designs against my master, and put him to death; but who is responsible for the death of all these?

And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him. But who smote all these?

10 You may be certain that nothing which the Lord has said about the family of Ahab will be without effect; for the Lord has done what he said by his servant Elijah.

Know now that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for Jehovah has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.

11 So Jehu put to death all the rest of the seed of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his relations and his near friends and his priests, till there were no more of them.

So Jehu smote all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left to him none remaining.

12 Then he got up and came to Samaria. And he was at the meeting-place of the keepers of sheep, by the way,

And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way,

13 When he came across the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah; we are going down to see the children of the king and of the queen.

Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we go down to salute the sons of the king and the sons of the queen.

14 And he said, Take them living. So they took them living, and put them to death in the water-hole of Beth-eked; of the forty-two men he put every one to death;

And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing-house, even forty-two men; neither did he leave any of them.

15 And when he had gone away from there, he came across Jehonadab, the son of Rechab: and he said good-day to him, and said to him, Is your heart true to mine, as mine is to yours? And Jehonadab in answer said, It is; and Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand, and he made him come up into his carriage.

And when he was departed from there, he came upon on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he saluted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

16 And he said, Come with me and see how I am on fire for the Lord's cause. So he made him go with him in his carriage.

And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.

17 And when he came to Samaria, he put to death all those of Ahab's family who were still in Samaria, till there were no more of them, as the Lord had said to Elijah.

And when he came to Samaria, he smote all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke to Elijah.

18 Then Jehu got all the people together and said to them, Ahab was Baal's servant in a small way, but Jehu will be his servant on a great scale.

And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much.

19 Now send for all the prophets of Baal and all his servants and all his priests, to come to me; let no one keep away: for I have a great offering to make to Baal; anyone who is not present, will be put to death. This Jehu did with deceit, his purpose being the destruction of the servants of Baal.

Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests. Let none be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal. Whoever shall be lacking, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

20 And Jehu said, Let there be a special holy meeting for the worship of Baal. So a public statement was made.

And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

21 And Jehu sent out through all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, not one kept away. And they came into the house of Baal, so that it was full from end to end.

And Jehu sent through all Israel. And all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.

22 And Jehu said to him who kept the robes, Get out robes for all the servants of Baal. So he got out robes for them.

And he said to him who was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought forth for them vestments.

23 And Jehu, with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the house of Baal; and he said to the servants of Baal, Make a search with care, to see that no servant of the Lord is with you, but only servants of Baal.

And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal. And he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the worshippers of Baal only.

24 Then they went in to make offerings and burned offerings. Now Jehu had put eighty men outside, and said to them, If any man whom I give into your hands gets away, the life of him who lets him go will be the price of his life.

And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for him eighty men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

25 Then when the burned offering was ended, straight away Jehu said to the armed men and the captains, Go in and put them to death; let not one come out. So they put them to the sword; and, pulling the images to the earth, they went into the holy place of the house of Baal.

And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and kill them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword. And the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

26 And they took out the image of Asherah from the house of Baal, and had it burned.

And they brought forth the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.

27 The altar of Baal was pulled down and the house of Baal was broken up and made an unclean place, as it is to this day.

And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an out-house to this day.

28 So Jehu put an end to the worship of Baal in Israel.

Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

29 But Jehu did not keep himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and the evil he made Israel do; the gold oxen were still in Beth-el and in Dan.

However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu did not depart from after them, namely, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

30 And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in doing what is right in my eyes and effecting all my purpose for the family of Ahab, your sons will be kings of Israel to the fourth generation.

And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

31 But Jehu did not take care to keep the law of the Lord with all his heart: he did not keep himself from the sin which Jeroboam did and made Israel do.

But Jehu did not take heed to walk in the law of Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin.

32 In those days the Lord was angry first with Israel; and Hazael made attacks on all the land of Israel,

In those days Jehovah began to cut off from Israel. And Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel,

33 East of Jordan, in all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer by the valley of the Arnon, all Gilead and Bashan.

from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all he did, and his great power, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

35 And Jehu went to rest with his fathers, and was put into the earth in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son became king in his place.

And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

36 And the time of Jehu's rule over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.