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 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 “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,

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 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.”

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

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

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 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 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 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 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 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 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.”

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 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?

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 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.”

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

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 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.

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 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,

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

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 Jehu gathers the whole of the people and says to them, “Ahab served Ba‘al a little—Jehu serves 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 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 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 Jehu says, “Sanctify a restraint for Ba‘al”; and they proclaim [it].

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

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.

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 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 him who kept the robes, Get out robes for all the servants of Baal. So he got out robes 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.”

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 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.”

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 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,

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

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

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.

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 Jehu destroys Ba‘al out of Israel,

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

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 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.

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 YHWH has begun to cut off [some] in Israel, and Hazael strikes them in all the border 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, 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.

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 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?

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 lies with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigns 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 that Jehu has reigned over Israel in Samaria [are] twenty-eight years.

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