2 Kings 10

1 Now Ahab had seventy descendants in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, including the elders and the guardians of Ahab's descendants, 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 “Your master's descendants are with you, and you also have chariots and horses and a fortified city and armor. So then, as soon as this letter comes to 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 select the best and most deserving of your master's descendants and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's royal line.”

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 terrified and said among themselves, “See, the two kings could not stand before Jehu. So how can 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 Then the man who was in charge of the palace, and the man who was over the city, and the elders also, and they who raised the children, sent word back to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do everything that you command us. We will not make any man king. Do what 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 Then Jehu wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, you must take the heads of the men of your master's descendants, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.” Now the king's descendants, seventy in number, were with the important men of the city, who were 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 So when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and killed them, seventy persons, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu in 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 A messenger came to Jehu, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king's sons.” So he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance 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 In the morning Jehu went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are innocent. See, I plotted 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 Now you should certainly realize that no part of Yahweh's word, the word that he spoke concerning the family of Ahab, will fall to the ground, for Yahweh has done what he spoke about through 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 So Jehu killed all who remained in the family of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his important men, his close friends, and his priests, until none of them remained.

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 Then Jehu arose and left; he went to Samaria. As he was arriving at Beth Eked of the shepherd,

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 met brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah. Jehu said to them, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of Queen Jezebel.”

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 Jehu said to his own men, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and killed them at the well of Beth Eked, all forty-two men. He did not leave any of them alive.

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 When Jehu had left there, he met Jehonadab son of Recab coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart with me, as my heart is with yours?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave Jehu his hand, and Jehu took Jehonadab up with 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 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for Yahweh.” So he had Jonadab ride along with him 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 When he came to Samaria, Jehu killed all who remained from Ahab's descendants in Samaria, until he had destroyed Ahab's royal line, just as was told them before by the word of Yahweh, which he had spoken to 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 all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will 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 therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests. Let no one be left out, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever does not come will not live.” But Jehu did this deceitfully, with the intent to kill the worshipers 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 Jehu said, “Set a time to have an assembly for Baal.” So they announced it.

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

21 Then Jehu sent throughout all Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. They came into the temple of Baal, and it was filled from one end to another.

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 Jehu said to the man who kept the priest's wardrobe, “Bring out robes for all the worshipers of Baal.” So the man brought out robes 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 So Jehu went with Jehonadab son of Recab into the house of Baal, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search and make sure that there is no one here with you from the servants of Yahweh, but the worshipers of Baal alone.”

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 went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had chosen eighty men who were standing outside, and he told them, “If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escapes, whoever lets that man escape, his life will be taken for the life of the one who escaped.”

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 So then as soon as Jehu finished offering the burnt offering, he said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in and kill them. Let no one come out.” So they killed them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the captains threw them out and went into the inner room 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 They dragged out the stone pillars that were in the house of Baal, and they burned them.

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

27 Then they broke down the pillar of Baal, and destroyed the house of Baal and made it a latrine, which it is 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 That is how Jehu destroyed Baal worship from Israel.

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

29 But Jehu did not leave the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, by which he made Israel sin—that is, the worship of the golden calves 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 So Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what was right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel 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 took no care to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, by which he made Israel 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 Yahweh began to cut off regions from Israel, and Hazael defeated the Israelites at the borders 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 eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, through Gilead to 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 As for the other matters concerning Jehu, and all that he did, and all his power, are they not written in the book of the events 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 Jehu slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria. Then Jehoahaz his son became king 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 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

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