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. 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:

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,

“Immediately when you receive these letters, you who have your lord’s sons, and chariots, and horses, and reinforced cities, and weapons,

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.”

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.”

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

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.”

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.”

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 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.

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 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.

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.”

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.”

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 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?

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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

And he rose up and went to Samaria. And when he had arrived at the shepherds’ cabin along 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.”

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.”

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 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.

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 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.

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 to him, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” And he gave him a place 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.

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.

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

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, 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.

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

And he said: “Sanctify a day of solemnity for Baal.” And he summoned

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 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.

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 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.

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, 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.”

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 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.”

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 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,

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

and they took away the statue from the shrine of Baal, and they burned it up

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.

and crushed it. They also tore down the temple of Baal, and they made it into a latrine, even to this day.

28 And Jehu destroys Ba‘al out of Israel,

And thus did Jehu wipe away 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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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, 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.

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 be weary of Israel. And Hazael struck them throughout all the parts 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.

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.

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?

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?

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

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

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

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