Βασιλειῶν Δʹ 10

1 καὶ τῷ Αχααβ ἑβδομήκοντα υἱοὶ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ καὶ ἔγραψεν Ιου βιβλίον καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας Σαμαρείας καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ πρὸς τοὺς τιθηνοὺς υἱῶν Αχααβ λέγων

There were seventy descendants of King Ahab who were living there in Samaria. Jehu wrote a letter [and made copies of it] and sent them to the rulers of the city, to the elders, and to those who raised and tutored Ahab’s children.

2 καὶ νῦν ὡς ἐὰν ἔλθῃ τὸ βιβλίον τοῦτο πρὸς ὑμᾶς μεθ’ ὑμῶν οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ κυρίου ὑμῶν καὶ μεθ’ ὑμῶν τὸ ἅρμα καὶ οἱ ἵπποι καὶ πόλεις ὀχυραὶ καὶ τὰ ὅπλα

[This is what he wrote]: “You are the ones who are [taking care of] the king’s descendants. You have chariots and horses and weapons, and you live in cities that have walls around them. So as soon as you receive this letter,

3 καὶ ὄψεσθε τὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸν εὐθῆ ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ κυρίου ὑμῶν καὶ καταστήσετε αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν θρόνον τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ πολεμεῖτε ὑπὲρ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ κυρίου ὑμῶν

choose one of the king’s sons, the one who is the best qualified, and appoint him to be your king. Then [prepare to] fight to defend him.”

4 καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα καὶ εἶπον ἰδοὺ οἱ δύο βασιλεῖς οὐκ ἔστησαν κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ πῶς στησόμεθα ἡμεῖς

But [when they got those letters from Jehu and read them], they became very afraid. They said, “King Joram and King Ahaziah could not resist him; (how can we resist him?/we cannot possibly resist him!)” [RHQ]

5 καὶ ἀπέστειλαν οἱ ἐπὶ τοῦ οἴκου καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ τιθηνοὶ πρὸς Ιου λέγοντες παῖδές σου ἡμεῖς καὶ ὅσα ἐὰν εἴπῃς πρὸς ἡμᾶς ποιήσομεν οὐ βασιλεύσομεν ἄνδρα τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου ποιήσομεν

So the officer who was in charge of the palace and the mayor of the city sent a message to Jehu saying, “We want to serve you, and we are ready to do whatever you tell us to do. We will not appoint anyone to become our king. You do whatever you think is best.”

6 καὶ ἔγραψεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς βιβλίον δεύτερον λέγων εἰ ἐμοὶ ὑμεῖς καὶ τῆς φωνῆς μου ὑμεῖς εἰσακούετε λάβετε τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνδρῶν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ κυρίου ὑμῶν καὶ ἐνέγκατε πρός με ὡς ἡ ὥρα αὔριον εἰς Ιεζραελ καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἦσαν ἑβδομήκοντα ἄνδρες οὗτοι ἁδροὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐξέτρεφον αὐτούς

So Jehu sent a second letter to them, writing this: “If you (are on my side/want to help me), and if you are ready to obey me, [kill] King Ahab’s descendants [and cut off their heads and] bring their heads to me here in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” The seventy descendants of King Ahab were being brought up and supervised by the leaders of [Samaria] city.

7 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἦλθεν τὸ βιβλίον πρὸς αὐτούς καὶ ἔλαβον τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ἔσφαξαν αὐτούς ἑβδομήκοντα ἄνδρας καὶ ἔθηκαν τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν ἐν καρτάλλοις καὶ ἀπέστειλαν αὐτὰς πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰς Ιεζραελ

When they received the letter from Jehu, they killed all seventy of Ahab’s descendants and [cut off their heads]. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

8 καὶ ἦλθεν ὁ ἄγγελος καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν λέγων ἤνεγκαν τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ εἶπεν θέτε αὐτὰς βουνοὺς δύο παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς πύλης εἰς πρωί

A messenger came to Jehu and told him, “They have brought the heads of Ahab’s descendants.” So Jehu commanded that the heads should be put in two piles at the city gate and that the heads should stay there until the next morning.

9 καὶ ἐγένετο πρωὶ καὶ ἐξῆλθεν καὶ ἔστη ἐν τῷ πυλῶνι τῆς πόλεως καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς πάντα τὸν λαόν δίκαιοι ὑμεῖς ἰδοὺ ἐγώ εἰμι συνεστράφην ἐπὶ τὸν κύριόν μου καὶ ἀπέκτεινα αὐτόν καὶ τίς ἐπάταξεν πάντας τούτους

The next morning he went out [to the city gate] and said to all the people, “I am the one who plotted against King Joram and killed him. You are not guilty of doing that. But [it was Yahweh, not I] [RHQ] who [commanded that] all these [descendants of Ahab should be] killed.

10 ἴδετε αφφω ὅτι οὐ πεσεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥήματος κυρίου εἰς τὴν γῆν οὗ ἐλάλησεν κύριος ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Αχααβ καὶ κύριος ἐποίησεν ὅσα ἐλάλησεν ἐν χειρὶ δούλου αὐτοῦ Ηλιου

So you need to know that everything that Yahweh said would happen has happened. He has caused to happen what he told the prophet Elijah would happen.”

11 καὶ ἐπάταξεν Ιου πάντας τοὺς καταλειφθέντας ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Αχααβ ἐν Ιεζραελ καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁδροὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς γνωστοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς αὐτοῦ ὥστε μὴ καταλιπεῖν αὐτοῦ κατάλειμμα

Then Jehu executed all the other relatives of Ahab in Jezreel, and all Ahab’s officers, and close friends, and his priests. He did not allow any of them to remain alive.

12 καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς Σαμάρειαν αὐτὸς ἐν Βαιθακαδ τῶν ποιμένων ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ

Then Jehu left [Jezreel] and went toward Samaria. While he was going there, at a place called ‘Shepherds’ Camp’,

13 καὶ Ιου εὗρεν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς Οχοζιου βασιλέως Ιουδα καὶ εἶπεν τίνες ὑμεῖς καὶ εἶπον οἱ ἀδελφοὶ Οχοζιου ἡμεῖς καὶ κατέβημεν εἰς εἰρήνην τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῶν υἱῶν τῆς δυναστευούσης

he met some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah. He asked them, “Who are you?” They replied, “We are relatives of King Ahaziah. We are going to Jezreel to visit the children of Queen Jezebel and the other members of King [Joram’s] family.”

14 καὶ εἶπεν συλλάβετε αὐτοὺς ζῶντας καὶ συνέλαβον αὐτοὺς ζῶντας καὶ ἔσφαξαν αὐτοὺς εἰς Βαιθακαδ τεσσαράκοντα καὶ δύο ἄνδρας οὐ κατέλιπεν ἄνδρα ἐξ αὐτῶν

Jehu said to his men, “Seize them!” So they seized them and killed all of them at the pit named Beth-Eked. There were 42 people whom they killed; they did not allow any of them to remain alive.

15 καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἐκεῖθεν καὶ εὗρεν τὸν Ιωναδαβ υἱὸν Ρηχαβ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ εἰς ἀπαντὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτόν καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Ιου εἰ ἔστιν καρδία σου μετὰ καρδίας μου εὐθεῖα καθὼς ἡ καρδία μου μετὰ τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ εἶπεν Ιωναδαβ ἔστιν καὶ εἶπεν Ιου καὶ εἰ ἔστιν δὸς τὴν χεῖρά σου καὶ ἔδωκεν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνεβίβασεν αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἅρμα

Then Jehu [continued to travel toward Samaria]. Along the road, he was met by Jonadab, a leader of the Rechab clan. Jehu greeted him and said to him, “Are you as devoted to me [IDM] as I am devoted to you?” Jonadab replied, “Yes, I am.” Jehu said, “If you are, shake hands with me.” So Jonadab shook hands with him, and Jehu helped him to get into his chariot.

16 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν δεῦρο μετ’ ἐμοῦ καὶ ἰδὲ ἐν τῷ ζηλῶσαί με τῷ κυρίῳ Σαβαωθ καὶ ἐπεκάθισεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἅρματι αὐτοῦ

Jehu said to him, “Come with me, and you will see that I am very devoted to Yahweh.” So they rode together to Samaria.

17 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς Σαμάρειαν καὶ ἐπάταξεν πάντας τοὺς καταλειφθέντας τοῦ Αχααβ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ ἕως τοῦ ἀφανίσαι αὐτὸν κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου ὃ ἐλάλησεν πρὸς Ηλιου

When they arrived in Samaria, Jehu killed all of Ahab’s relatives who were still alive. He did not (spare any of them/allow any of them to remain alive). That was what Yahweh told Elijah would happen.

18 καὶ συνήθροισεν Ιου πάντα τὸν λαὸν καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς Αχααβ ἐδούλευσεν τῷ Βααλ ὀλίγα καί γε Ιου δουλεύσει αὐτῷ πολλά

Then Jehu summoned all the people [of Samaria], and said to them, “King Ahab was devoted to [your god] Baal a little bit, but I will serve him much more.

19 καὶ νῦν πάντες οἱ προφῆται τοῦ Βααλ πάντας τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς αὐτοῦ καλέσατε πρός με ἀνὴρ μὴ ἐπισκεπήτω ὅτι θυσία μεγάλη μοι τῷ Βααλ πᾶς ὃς ἐὰν ἐπισκεπῇ οὐ ζήσεται καὶ Ιου ἐποίησεν ἐν πτερνισμῷ ἵνα ἀπολέσῃ τοὺς δούλους τοῦ Βααλ

So now summon all the prophets of Baal, all of Baal’s priests, and all the others who worship Baal. I am going to make a great sacrifice to Baal. I want all of them to be there. Any of them who is not there will be executed.” But Jehu was planning to trick them; he was planning to kill all those who worshiped Baal.

20 καὶ εἶπεν Ιου ἁγιάσατε ἱερείαν τῷ Βααλ καὶ ἐκήρυξαν

Then Jehu commanded, “Announce that we are going to set aside a day to honor Baal.” So they did that.

21 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιου ἐν παντὶ Ισραηλ λέγων καὶ νῦν πάντες οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ Βααλ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἱερεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ προφῆται αὐτοῦ μηδεὶς ἀπολειπέσθω ὅτι θυσίαν μεγάλην ποιῶ ὃς ἂν ἀπολειφθῇ οὐ ζήσεται καὶ ἦλθον πάντες οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ Βααλ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἱερεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ προφῆται αὐτοῦ οὐ κατελείφθη ἀνήρ ὃς οὐ παρεγένετο καὶ εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Βααλ καὶ ἐπλήσθη ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Βααλ στόμα εἰς στόμα

Jehu [decided what day they would gather and] sent messages throughout Israel [telling everyone what day to gather on], and on that day, everyone who worshiped Baal came. No one stayed at home. They all went into the huge temple of Baal and filled it from one end to the other.

22 καὶ εἶπεν Ιου τῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ οἴκου μεσθααλ ἐξάγαγε ἐνδύματα πᾶσι τοῖς δούλοις τοῦ Βααλ καὶ ἐξήνεγκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ στολιστής

Jehu told the priest who took care of the sacred robes to bring them out and give them to the people who worshiped Baal. So the priest did that.

23 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Ιου καὶ Ιωναδαβ υἱὸς Ρηχαβ εἰς οἶκον τοῦ Βααλ καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς δούλοις τοῦ Βααλ ἐρευνήσατε καὶ ἴδετε εἰ ἔστιν μεθ’ ὑμῶν τῶν δούλων κυρίου ὅτι ἀλλ’ ἢ οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ Βααλ μονώτατοι

Then Jehu went into the temple of Baal with Jonadab, and he said to the people who were there to worship Baal, “Be sure that only those who worship Baal are here. Be sure that no one who worships Yahweh has come in.”

24 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὰ θύματα καὶ τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ Ιου ἔταξεν ἑαυτῷ ἔξω ὀγδοήκοντα ἄνδρας καὶ εἶπεν ἀνήρ ὃς ἐὰν διασωθῇ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ὧν ἐγὼ ἀνάγω ἐπὶ χεῖρας ὑμῶν ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ ἀντὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ

Then he and Jonadab prepared to offer sacrifices and other offerings to Baal that would be completely burned [on the altar that was there in Samaria]. But Jehu had stationed eighty of his men outside the temple, and had said to them, “I want you to kill all the people [who are in the temple]. Anyone who allows one of them to escape will be executed!”

25 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς συνετέλεσεν ποιῶν τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν καὶ εἶπεν Ιου τοῖς παρατρέχουσιν καὶ τοῖς τριστάταις εἰσελθόντες πατάξατε αὐτούς ἀνὴρ μὴ ἐξελθάτω ἐξ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπάταξαν αὐτοὺς ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας καὶ ἔρριψαν οἱ παρατρέχοντες καὶ οἱ τριστάται καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ἕως πόλεως οἴκου τοῦ Βααλ

As soon as Jehu [and Jonadab] had finished killing the animals that would be completely burned to be an offering to Baal, they [went outside and] said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill all of them! Do not allow any of them to escape!” So the guards and officers went in and killed them all with their swords. Then they dragged their corpses outside the temple. Then they went into the inner room of the temple,

26 καὶ ἐξήνεγκαν τὴν στήλην τοῦ Βααλ καὶ ἐνέπρησαν αὐτήν

and they carried out the sacred pillar of Baal that was there, and they burned it.

27 καὶ κατέσπασαν τὰς στήλας τοῦ Βααλ καὶ καθεῖλον τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Βααλ καὶ ἔταξαν αὐτὸν εἰς λυτρῶνας ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης

So they destroyed that pillar that honored Baal, and then they burned down the temple, and made it a public toilet. And it is still a toilet!

28 καὶ ἠφάνισεν Ιου τὸν Βααλ ἐξ Ισραηλ

That is how Jehu got rid of the worship of Baal in Israel.

29 πλὴν ἁμαρτιῶν Ιεροβοαμ υἱοῦ Ναβατ ὃς ἐξήμαρτεν τὸν Ισραηλ οὐκ ἀπέστη Ιου ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν αὐτῶν αἱ δαμάλεις αἱ χρυσαῖ ἐν Βαιθηλ καὶ ἐν Δαν

But Jehu did not quit committing the kinds of sins that Jeroboam had committed, sins that led the people of Israel to sin by worshiping the gold [statues of] calves in Bethel and Dan [cities].

30 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Ιου ἀνθ’ ὧν ὅσα ἠγάθυνας ποιῆσαι τὸ εὐθὲς ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς μου καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου ἐποίησας τῷ οἴκῳ Αχααβ υἱοὶ τέταρτοι καθήσονταί σοι ἐπὶ θρόνου Ισραηλ

Then Yahweh said to Jehu, “You have done what pleased me by getting rid of all of Ahab’s descendants. So I promise you that your son and grandson and great-grandson and great-great-grandson will all be kings of Israel.”

31 καὶ Ιου οὐκ ἐφύλαξεν πορεύεσθαι ἐν νόμῳ κυρίου θεοῦ Ισραηλ ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπέστη ἐπάνωθεν ἁμαρτιῶν Ιεροβοαμ υἱοῦ Ναβατ ὃς ἐξήμαρτεν τὸν Ισραηλ

But Jehu did not obey all the laws of Yahweh, the God of the Israeli people. He did not stop committing the sins that Jeroboam had committed, sins that led the Israeli people to sin.

32 ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἤρξατο κύριος συγκόπτειν ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτοὺς Αζαηλ ἐν παντὶ ὁρίῳ Ισραηλ

At that time, Yahweh began to cause the territory controlled by Israel to become smaller. [The army of] King Hazael [of Syria] conquered much of the Israeli territory.

33 ἀπὸ τοῦ Ιορδάνου κατ’ ἀνατολὰς ἡλίου πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν Γαλααδ τοῦ Γαδδι καὶ τοῦ Ρουβην καὶ τοῦ Μανασση ἀπὸ Αροηρ ἥ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοῦ χείλους χειμάρρου Αρνων καὶ τὴν Γαλααδ καὶ τὴν Βασαν

He conquered the parts east of the Jordan [River], as far south as Aroer [town] on the Arnon [River]. That included [the] Gilead and Bashan [regions], where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half of the tribe of Manasseh lived.

34 καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν λόγων Ιου καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν καὶ πᾶσα ἡ δυναστεία αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς συνάψεις ἃς συνῆψεν οὐχὶ ταῦτα γεγραμμένα ἐπὶ βιβλίῳ λόγων τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν Ισραηλ

[If you want to read more] about all the other things that Jehu did [RHQ], they are written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

35 καὶ ἐκοιμήθη Ιου μετὰ τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν Ιωαχας υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἀντ’ αὐτοῦ

Jehu died [EUP], and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz became the king in place of his father.

36 καὶ αἱ ἡμέραι ἃς ἐβασίλευσεν Ιου ἐπὶ Ισραηλ εἴκοσι ὀκτὼ ἔτη ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ

Jehu had ruled in Samaria as the king of Israel for twenty-eight years.