Kings IV 10

1 And Achaab [had] seventy sons in Samaria. And Ju wrote a letter, and sent it into Samaria to the rulers of Samaria, and to the elders, and to the guardians of [the children of] Achaab, saying.

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,

2 Now then, as soon as this letter shall have reached you, whereas [there are] with you the sons of your master, and with you chariots and horses, and strong cities, and arms,

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;

3 do you accordingly look out the best and fit amongst your master's sons, and set him on the throne of his father, and fight for the house of your master.

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.

4 And they feared greatly, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: and how shall we stand?

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

5 So they that were over the house, and they that were over the city, and the elders and the guardians, sent to Ju, saying, We also [are] your servants, and whatever you shall say to us we will do; we will not make [any] man king: we will do that which is right in your eyes.

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.

6 And Ju wrote them a second letter, saying, If you [are] for me, and listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and bring [them] to me at this time to-morrow in Jezrael. Now the sons of the king were seventy men; these great men of the city brought them up.

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.

7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and killed them, [even] seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezrael.

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.

8 And a messenger came and told [him], saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them [in] two heaps by the door of the gate until the morning.

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.

9 And the morning came, and he went forth, and stood, and said to all the people, You are righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him: but who killed all these?

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?

10 See now that there shall not fall to the ground anything of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke against the house of Achaab: for the Lord has performed all that he spoke of by the hand of his servant Eliu.

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.

11 And Ju struck all that were left of the house of Achaab in Jezrael, and all his great men, and his acquaintance, and his priests, so as not to leave him [any] remnant.

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.

12 And he arose and went to Samaria, [and] he [was] in the house of sheep-shearing in the way.

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

13 And Ju found the brethren of Ochozias king of Juda, and said, Who [are] you? And they said, We [are] the brethren of Ochozias, and we have come down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.

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.

14 And he said, Take them alive. And they killed them at the shearing-house, forty and two men: he left not a man of them.

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;

15 And he went thence and found Jonadab the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him; and he saluted him, and Ju said to him, Is your heart right with my heart, as my heart [is] with your heart? And Jonadab said, It is. And Ju said, If it is then, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

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.

16 And he said to him, Come with me, and see me zealous for the Lord. And he caused him to sit in his chariot.

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.

17 And he entered into Samaria, and struck all that were left of Achaab in Samaria, until he had utterly destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Eliu.

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.

18 And Ju gathered all the people, and said to them, Achaab served Baal a little; Ju shall serve him much.

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.

19 Now then do all [you] the prophets of Baal call all his servants and his priests to me; let not a man be lacking: for I have a great sacrifice [to offer] to Baal; every one who shall be missing shall die. But Ju did it in subtilty, that he might destroy the servants of Baal.

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.

20 And Ju said, Sanctify a solemn festival to Baal, and they made a proclamation.

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

21 And Ju sent throughout all Israel, saying, Now then let all [Baal's] servants, and all his priests, and all his prophets [come], let none be lacking: for I am going to offer a great sacrifice; whoever shall be missing, shall not live. So all the servants of Baal came, and all his priests, and all his prophets: there was not one left who came not. And they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.

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.

22 And he said to the man who was over the house of the wardrobe, Bring forth a robe for all the servants of Baal. And the keeper of the robes brought forth to them.

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.

23 And Ju and Jonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see whether there is amongst you any of the servants of the Lord, or only the servants of Baal, by themselves.

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.

24 And he went in to offer sacrifices and whole burnt offerings; and Ju set for himself eighty men without, and said, Every man who shall escape of the men whom I bring into your hand, the life of him [that spares him] shall go for his life.

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.

25 And it came to pass, when he had finished offering the whole burnt offering, that Ju said to the footmen and to the officers, Go you in and kill them; let not a man of them escape. So they struck them with the edge of the sword, and the footmen and the officers cast [the bodies] forth, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

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.

26 And they brought out the pillar of Baal, and burnt it.

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

27 And they tore down the pillars of Baal, and made his house a draught-house until this day.

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.

28 So Ju abolished Baal out of Israel.

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

29 Nevertheless Ju departed not from following the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who led Israel to sin: [these were] the golden heifers in Baethel and in Dan.

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.

30 And the Lord said to Ju, Because of all your deeds wherein you have acted well in doing that which was right in my eyes, according to all things which you have done to the house of Achaab [as they were] in my heart, your sons to the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel.

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.

31 But Ju took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: he departed not from following the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.

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.

32 In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short; and Azael struck them in every coast of Israel;

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

33 from Jordan eastward all the land of Galaad belonging to the Gadites, of Gaddi and that of Ruben, and of Manasses, from Aroer, which is on the brink of the brook of Arnon, and Galaad and Basan.

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.

34 And the rest of the acts of Ju, and all that he did, and all his might, and the wars wherein he engaged, [are] not these things written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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?

35 And Ju slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joachaz his son reigned in his stead.

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.

36 And the days which Ju reigned over Israel [were] twenty-eight years in Samaria.

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