2 Kings 10:1 |
Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu wrote letters and sent [them] to Samaria to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians [of the children] of Ahab, saying, |
2 Kings 10:2 |
Now then, when this letter comes to you, since your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons, |
2 Kings 10:3 |
Look for the best and fittest of your master's sons, and set [him] on the throne of his father, and fight for your master's house. |
2 Kings 10:4 |
But they feared very greatly and said, If the two kings could not stand before him, how then can we stand [before him?] |
2 Kings 10:5 |
And he who was over the household and he that was over the city and the elders and the guardians [of the children] sent [word] to Jehu, saying, We are your servants; all that you say to us, we will do. We will not make anyone king. What is good in your sight, do. |
2 Kings 10:6 |
Then he wrote a letter to them a second time, saying, If you are mine and listen to my voice, take the heads of the sons of your master, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time. Now the king's sons, seventy men, were with the great men of the city, who had brought them up. |
2 Kings 10:7 |
And when the letter reached [them,] they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy men; and they placed their heads in baskets and sent [them] to him in Jezreel. |
2 Kings 10:8 |
And the messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning. |
2 Kings 10:9 |
And in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, You are righteous. I conspired against my master and have killed him; but who struck all these? |
2 Kings 10:10 |
Know therefore that nothing of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab, shall fall to the earth; for Jehovah has done that which He spoke through His servant Elijah. |
2 Kings 10:11 |
So Jehu killed all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him no one remaining. |
2 Kings 10:12 |
Then he rose up and departed and came into Samaria. And while he was at the shepherds' meeting place on the way, |
2 Kings 10:13 |
Jehu came upon the brothers of Ahaziah the king of Judah; and he said, Who are you? And they said, We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother. |
2 Kings 10:14 |
And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive and slew them, forty-two men, at the pit of the meeting place; and he left not one of them remaining. |
2 Kings 10:15 |
And when he departed from there, he came upon Jehonadab the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. And [Jehu said,] If it is, give [me] your hand. And he gave him his hand, and [Jehu] took him up to himself into the chariot. |
2 Kings 10:16 |
And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot. |
2 Kings 10:17 |
And when he came to Samaria, he struck all who were left to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah, which He spoke to Elijah. |
2 Kings 10:18 |
And Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. |
2 Kings 10:19 |
Now call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be missing. For I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal. Whoever is missing will not live. But Jehu acted in subtlety, in order that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. |
2 Kings 10:20 |
And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed [it.] |
2 Kings 10:21 |
And Jehu sent [word] throughout all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came; and there was not one left who did not come. And they came to the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. |
2 Kings 10:22 |
And he said to the one who was over the wardrobe, Bring out garments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought out the garments to them. |
2 Kings 10:23 |
And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab came to the house of Baal; and he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search and see that none of the servants of Jehovah are here with you; only the worshippers of Baal [should be here.] |
2 Kings 10:24 |
And they came to offer sacrifice and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside; and he had said, He who allows any of the men to escape whom I bring into your hands will give up his life instead. |
2 Kings 10:25 |
And when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and to the captains, Go in [and] slay them; let no one get out. And they struck them with the edge of the sword. And the guards and the captains threw [them] out, and they went to the inner room of the house of Baal. |
2 Kings 10:26 |
And they brought out the pillars of the house of Baal and burned them. |
2 Kings 10:27 |
And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal and made it a latrine, [as it is] to this day. |
2 Kings 10:28 |
Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel. |
2 Kings 10:29 |
However [as regards] the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, by which he caused Israel to sin, Jehu did not turn away from them, [that is,] the golden calves which were in Bethel and in Dan. |
2 Kings 10:30 |
And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes [and] have dealt with the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons to the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel. |
2 Kings 10:31 |
But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, by which he caused Israel to sin. |
2 Kings 10:32 |
In those days Jehovah began to cut away [portions of land] in Israel, and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel |
2 Kings 10:33 |
From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, [both] Gilead and Bashan. |
2 Kings 10:34 |
And the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? |
2 Kings 10:35 |
And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. |
2 Kings 10:36 |
Now the time which Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years. |