2 Kings 10

1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And so Jehu wrote letters, and he sent to Samaria, to the nobles of the city, and to those greater by birth, and to those who had raised Ahab’s sons, 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 “Immediately when you receive these letters, you who have your lord’s sons, and chariots, and horses, and reinforced cities, and weapons,

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 choose him who is better and who pleases you from among the sons of your lord, and set him on the throne of his father, and fight for the house of your lord.”

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 But they were vehemently afraid, and they said: “Behold, two kings were not able to stand before him. So how will we be able to withstand him?”

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

5 Therefore, those who were in charge of the house, and the prefects of the city, and those greater by birth, and those who raised the sons, sent to Jehu, saying: “We are your servants. Whatever you will order, we will do. But we will not appoint a king for ourselves. Do whatever pleases you.”

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 Then he again wrote letters to them a second time, saying: “If you are mine, and if you obey me, take the heads of the sons of your lord, and come to me at Jezreel at this same hour tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, being seventy men, were being raised with the nobles of the city.

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 when the letters had arrived to them, they took the sons of the king, and they killed the seventy men. And they placed their heads in baskets, and they sent these to him at Jezreel.

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 Then a messenger arrived and reported to him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” And he responded, “Place them in two piles, beside the entrance of the gate, until 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 when it had become light, he went out. And standing there, he said to all the people: “You are just. If I have conspired against my lord, and if I have killed him, who has struck down all of 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 Now therefore, see that none of the words of the Lord has fallen to the ground, which the Lord spoke over the house of Ahab, and that the Lord has done what he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.”

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 so, Jehu struck down all who had remained from the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his nobles and friends and priests, until no remnant of them was left behind.

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 rose up and went to Samaria. And when he had arrived at the shepherds’ cabin along 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 he found the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and he said to them, “Who are you?” And they responded, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to greet 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 when they had taken them alive, they cut their throats at the cistern beside the cabin, forty-two men. And he did not leave any of them behind.

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 when he had gone away from there, he found Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him, “Is your heart upright, just as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab said, “It is.” Then he said, “If it is, then give me your hand.” He gave his hand to him. And so he lifted him up to himself in 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 my zeal for the Lord.” And he gave him a place 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 led him into Samaria. And he struck down all who were left behind of Ahab in Samaria, even to the last one, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he spoke through Elijah.

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 Then Jehu gathered together the entire people. And he said to them: “Ahab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him even more.

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 therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be permitted not to come, for great is the sacrifice from me to Baal. Whoever will fail to come, he shall not live.” Now Jehu was doing this treacherously, so that he might destroy the worshippers 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 he said: “Sanctify a day of solemnity for Baal.” And he summoned

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

21 and sent into all the borders of Israel. And all the servants of Baal came. There was left behind not even one who did not arrive. And they entered into the temple of Baal. And the house of Baal was filled, all the way from end to end.

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 those who were over the vestments, “Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal.” And they brought forth vestments for 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 Jehu, upon entering the temple of Baal with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, said to the worshippers of Baal, “Inquire and see that there is no one with you from the servants of the Lord, but only from the servants of Baal.”

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 Then they entered, so that they might offer victims and holocausts. But Jehu had prepared for himself eighty men outside. And he had said to them, “If anyone escapes from among these men, whom I have led into your hands, your life will take the place of 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 Then it happened that, when the holocaust had been completed, Jehu ordered his soldiers and officers, saying: “Enter and strike them down. Let no one escape.” And the soldiers and officers struck them down with the edge of the sword, and they cast them out. And they went into the city of the temple 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 took away the statue from the shrine of Baal, and they burned it up

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

27 and crushed it. They also tore down the temple of Baal, and they made it into a latrine, even to 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 And thus did Jehu wipe away Baal from Israel.

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

29 Yet truly, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. Neither did he forsake the golden calves, which were in Bethel and 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 Then the Lord said to Jehu: “Since you have diligently carried out what was right and pleasing in my eyes, and since you have accomplished, against the house of Ahab, all that was in my heart, your sons shall sit upon the throne of Israel, even to the fourth generation.”

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 Jehu did not take care, so that he might walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. For he did not withdraw from the sins of Jeroboam, who had caused 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 be weary of Israel. And Hazael struck them throughout all the parts of Israel,

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

33 from the Jordan opposite the eastern region, in all the land of Gilead, and Gad, and Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer, which is above the torrent Arnon, in both Gilead and Bashan.

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 But the rest of the words of Jehu, and all that he did, and his strength, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days 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 Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz, his son, reigned in his place.

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 Now the days during which Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, were twenty-eight years.

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