2 Kings 10

1 And Ahab has seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writes letters, and sends [them] to Samaria, to the heads of Jezreel, the elderly, and to those supporting Ahab, saying,

Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying:

2 “And now, at the coming in of this letter to you, and sons of your lord [are] with you, and the chariots and the horses, and a fortified city, and the armor, [are] with you,

“When this letter arrives, since your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weaponry,

3 that you have seen the best and the most upright of the sons of your lord, and have set [him] on the throne of his father, and fight for the house of your lord.”

select the best and most worthy son of your master, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”

4 And they fear very greatly, and say, “Behold, the two kings have not stood before him, and how do we stand—we?”

But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?”

5 And he who [is] over the house, and he who [is] over the city, and the elderly, and those supporting, send to Jehu, saying, “We [are] your servants, and all that you say to us we do; we do not make anyone king—do that which [is] good in your eyes.”

So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.”

6 And he writes a letter to them a second time, saying, “If you [are] for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men—the sons of your lord, and come to me about this time tomorrow, to Jezreel”; and the sons of the king [are] seventy men, with the great ones of the city—those bringing them up.

Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.

7 And it comes to pass, at the coming in of the letter to them, that they take the sons of the king, and slaughter seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and send [them] to him at Jezreel,

And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

8 and the messenger comes in, and declares [it] to him, saying, “They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king,” and he says, “Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate until the morning.”

When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.” And Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

9 And it comes to pass in the morning, that he goes out, and stands, and says to all the people, “You are righteous; behold, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him—and who struck all these?

The next morning, Jehu went out and stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

10 Now you know that nothing falls of the word of YHWH to the earth that YHWH spoke against the house of Ahab, and YHWH has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.”

Know, then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail, for the LORD has done what He promised through His servant Elijah.”

11 And Jehu strikes all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he has not left a remnant to him.

So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his great men and close friends and priests, leaving him without a single survivor.

12 And he rises, and comes in and goes to Samaria; he [is] at the shepherds’ shearing-house in the way,

Then Jehu set out toward Samaria. At Beth-eked of the Shepherds,

13 and Jehu has found the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah and says, “Who [are] you?” And they say, “We [are] brothers of Ahaziah, and we go down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the mistress.”

Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?” “We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered, “and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”

14 And he says, “Catch them alive”; and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty-two men, and he has not left [even one] man of them.

Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So his men took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked—forty-two men. He spared none of them.

15 And he goes there, and finds Jehonadab son of Rechab to meet him, and blesses him, and says to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart [is] with your heart?” And Jehonadab says, “It is.” “Then it is; give your hand”; and he gives his hand, and he causes him to come up into the chariot to him,

When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?” “It is!” Jehonadab replied. “If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot,

16 and says, “Come with me, and look on my zeal for YHWH”; and they cause him to ride in his chariot.

saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.

17 And he comes to Samaria, and strikes all those left to Ahab in Samaria, until his destroying him, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke to Elisha.

When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down everyone belonging to Ahab who remained there, until he had destroyed them, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to Elijah.

18 And Jehu gathers the whole of the people and says to them, “Ahab served Ba‘al a little—Jehu serves him much:

Then Jehu brought all the people together and said, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot.

19 and now, all the prophets of Ba‘al, all his servants, and all his priests, call to me; do not let a man be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice for Ba‘al; everyone who is lacking—he does not live”; and Jehu has done [it] in subtlety, in order to destroy the servants of Ba‘al.

Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. See that no one is missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

20 And Jehu says, “Sanctify a restraint for Ba‘al”; and they proclaim [it].

And Jehu commanded, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they announced it.

21 And Jehu sends into all Israel, and all the servants of Ba‘al come in, and there has not been left a man who has not come in; and they come into the house of Ba‘al, and the house of Ba‘al is full—mouth to mouth.

Then Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; there was not a man who failed to show. They entered the temple of Baal, and it was filled from end to end.

22 And he says to him who [is] over the wardrobe, “Bring out clothing for all those serving Ba‘al”; and he brings out the clothing to them.

And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them.

23 And Jehu goes in—and Jehonadab son of Rechab—to the house of Ba‘al, and says to the servants of Ba‘al, “Search and see, lest there be [any] from the servants of YHWH here with you—but [only] the servants of Ba‘al by themselves.”

Next, Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around to see that there are no servants of the LORD here among you—only servants of Baal.”

24 And they come in to make sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and Jehu has set eighty men for himself in an out-place, and says, “The man who lets [any] of the men whom I am bringing into your hand escape—his soul for his soul.”

And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.”

25 And it comes to pass, at his finishing to make the burnt-offering, that Jehu says to the runners and to the captains, “Go in, strike them, let none come out”; and they strike them by the mouth of the sword, and the runners and the captains cast [them] out; and they go to the city, to the house of Ba‘al,

When he had finished making the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them. Do not let anyone out.” So the guards and officers put them to the sword, threw the bodies out, and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal.

26 and bring out the standing-pillars of the house of Ba‘al, and burn them,

They brought out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it.

27 and break down the standing-pillar of Ba‘al, and break down the house of Ba‘al, and appoint it for a latrine to this day.

They also demolished the sacred pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine, which it is to this day.

28 And Jehu destroys Ba‘al out of Israel,

Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel,

29 only [not]—the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin, Jehu has not turned aside from after them—the calves of gold that [are] at Beth-El and in Dan.

but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

30 And YHWH says to Jehu, “Because that you have done well, to do that which [is] right in My eyes—according to all that [is] in My heart you have done to the house of Ahab—the sons of the fourth [generation] sit on the throne of Israel for you.”

Nevertheless, the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”

31 And Jehu has not taken heed to walk in the Law of YHWH, God of Israel, with all his heart; he has not turned aside from the sins of Jeroboam that he caused Israel to sin.

Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

32 In those days YHWH has begun to cut off [some] in Israel, and Hazael strikes them in all the border of Israel,

In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory

33 from the Jordan, at the sun-rising: the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadite, and the Reubenite, and the Manassite (from Aroer, that [is] by the Brook of Arnon), even Gilead and Bashan.

from the Jordan eastward through all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh), and from Aroer by the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan.

34 And the rest of the matters of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

As for the rest of the acts of Jehu, along with all his accomplishments and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

35 And Jehu lies with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigns in his stead.

And Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.

36 And the days that Jehu has reigned over Israel in Samaria [are] twenty-eight years.

So the duration of Jehu’s reign over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.