2 Kings 10

1 And Ahab hath seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writeth letters, and sendeth to Samaria, unto the heads of Jezreel, the elders, and unto the supporters of 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 unto you, and with you [are] sons of your lord, and with you [are] the chariots and the horses, and a fenced city, and the armour,

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

3 and ye have seen the best and the uprightest of the sons of your lord, and have set [him] on the throne of his father, and fight ye 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, 'Lo, 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 elders, and the supporters, send unto Jehu, saying, 'Thy servants we [are], and all that thou sayest unto us we do; we do not make any one king — that which [is] good in thine eyes do.'

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 writeth unto them a letter a second time, saying, 'If ye [are] for me, and to my voice are hearkening, take the heads of the men — the sons of your lord, and come unto me about this time to-morrow, 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 cometh to pass, at the coming in of the letter unto them, that they take the sons of the king, and slaughter seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and send unto him to 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 cometh in, and declareth to him, saying, 'They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king,' and he saith, 'Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate till 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 cometh to pass in the morning, that he goeth out, and standeth, and saith unto all the people, 'Righteous are ye; lo, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him — and who smote 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 Know ye now, that nothing doth fall of the word of Jehovah to the earth that Jehovah spake against the house of Ahab, and Jehovah hath done that which He spake 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 smiteth all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, till he hath not left to him a remnant.

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 riseth, and cometh in and goeth 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 hath found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and saith, 'Who [are] ye?' and they say, 'Brethren of Ahaziah we [are], and we go down to salute 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 saith, 'Catch them alive;' and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty and two men, and he hath not left a 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 goeth thence, and findeth Jehonadab son of Rechab — to meet him, and blesseth him, and saith unto him, 'Is thy heart right, as my heart [is] with thy heart?' and Jehonadab saith, 'It is;' — 'Then it is; give thy hand;' and he giveth his hand, and he causeth him to come up into him into the chariot,

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 saith, 'Come with me, and look on my zeal for Jehovah;' 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 cometh in to Samaria, and smiteth all those left to Ahab in Samaria, till his destroying him, according to the word of Jehovah that He spake unto 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 gathereth the whole of the people, and saith unto them, 'Ahab served Baal a little — Jehu doth serve 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 Baal, all his servants, and all his priests, call ye unto me; let not a man be lacking, for a great sacrifice I have for Baal; every one who is lacking — he doth not live;' and Jehu hath done [it] in subtilty, in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

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 saith, 'Sanctify a restraint for Baal;' and they proclaim [it].

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

21 And Jehu sendeth into all Israel, and all the servants of Baal come in, and there hath not been left a man who hath not come in; and they come in to the house of Baal, and the house of Baal 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 saith to him who [is] over the wardrobe, 'Bring out clothing to all servants of Baal;' and he bringeth out to them the clothing.

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 goeth in, and Jehonadab son of Rechab, to the house of Baal, and saith to the servants of Baal, 'Search and see, lest there be here with you of the servants of Jehovah — but, the servants of Baal 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 hath set for himself in an out-place eighty men, and saith, 'The man who letteth escape [any] of the men whom I am bringing in unto your hand — 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 cometh to pass at his finishing to make the burnt-offering, that Jehu saith to the runners, and to the captains, 'Go in, smite them, let none come out;' and they smite them by the mouth of the sword, and the runners and the captains cast [them] out; and they go unto the city, to the house of Baal,

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 Baal, 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 Baal, and break down the house of Baal, and appoint it for a draught-house unto 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 destroyeth Baal out of Israel,

Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel,

29 only — the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin, Jehu hath 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 Jehovah saith unto Jehu, 'Because that thou hast done well, to do that which [is] right in Mine eyes — according to all that [is] in My heart thou hast done to the house of Ahab — the sons of the fourth [generation] do sit for thee on the throne of Israel.'

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 hath not taken heed to walk in the law of Jehovah, God of Israel, with all his heart, he hath 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 hath Jehovah begun to cut off [some] in Israel, and Hazael smiteth 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 Manassahite (from Aroer, that [is] by the brook 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 book 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 lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and reign doth Jehoahaz his son 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 hath reigned over Israel [are] twenty and eight years, in Samaria.

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