2 Kings 10

¹ And Ahab has seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writes letters, and sends to Samaria, unto the heads of Jezreel, the elders, and unto the supporters 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 armor, ³ and you have seen the best and the upright of the sons of your lord, and have set [him] on the throne of his father, and fight you for the house of your lord." ⁴ And they fear very greatly, and say, "Lo, the two kings have not stood before him, and how do we stand - 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, "Your servants we [are], and all that you say unto us we do; we do not make any one king - that which [is] good in your eyes do." ⁶ And he writes unto them a letter a second time, saying, "If you [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. ⁷ And it comes 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, ⁸ and the messenger comes in, and declares to him, saying, "They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king", and he said, "Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate till the morning." ⁹ And it comes to pass in the morning, that he goes out, and stands, and said unto all the people, "Righteous are you; lo, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him - and who smote all these? ¹⁰ Know you now, that nothing does fall of the word of Yahweh to the earth that Yahweh spoke against the house of Ahab, and Yahweh has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah." ¹¹ And Jehu smites all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, till he has not left to him a remnant. ¹² And he rises, and comes in and goes to Samaria; he [is] at the shepherds' shearing-house in the way, ¹³ and Jehu has found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, "Who [are] you?" 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." ¹⁴ And he said, "Catch them alive"; and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty and two men, and he has not left a man of them. ¹⁵ And he goes thence, and finds Jehonadab son of Rechab - to meet him, and blesses him, and said unto him, "Is your heart right, as my heart [is] with your heart?" and Jehonadab said, "It is"; "Then it is; give your hand"; and he gives his hand, and he causes him to come up into him into the chariot, ¹⁶ and said, "Come with me, and look on my zeal for Yahweh"; and they cause him to ride in his chariot. ¹⁷ And he comes in to Samaria, and smites all those left to Ahab in Samaria, till his destroying him, according to the word of Yahweh that He spoke unto Elisha. ¹⁸ And Jehu gathers the whole of the people, and said unto them, "Ahab served Baal a little - Jehu does serve him much. ¹⁹ and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests, call you unto me; let not a man be lacking, for a great sacrifice I have for Baal; every one who is lacking - he does not live"; and Jehu has done [it] in subtilty, in order to destroy the servants of Baal. ²⁰ And Jehu said, "Sanctify a restraint for Baal"; and they proclaim [it]. ²¹ And Jehu sends into all Israel, and all the servants of Baal come in, and there has not been left a man who has not come in; and they come in to the house of Baal, and the house of Baal is full - mouth to mouth. ²² And he said to him who [is] over the wardrobe, "Bring out clothing to all servants of Baal"; and he brings out to them the clothing. ²³ And Jehu goes in, and Jehonadab son of Rechab, to the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, "Search and see, lest there be here with you of the servants of Yahweh - but, the servants of Baal by themselves." ²⁴ And they come in to make sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and Jehu has set for himself in an out-place eighty men, and said, "The man who lets escape [any] of the men whom I am bringing in unto your hand - his soul for his soul." ²⁵ And it comes to pass at his finishing to make the burnt-offering, that Jehu said 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, ²⁶ and bring out the standing-pillars of the house of Baal, and burn them, 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. ²⁸ And Jehu destroys Baal out of Israel, ²⁹ only - 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. ³⁰ And Yahweh said unto Jehu, "Because that you have done well, to do that which [is] right in Mine eyes - according to all that [is] in My heart you have done to the house of Ahab - the sons of the fourth [generation] do sit for you on the throne of Israel." ³¹ And Jehu has not taken heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, with all his heart, he has not turned aside from the sins of Jeroboam, that he caused Israel to sin. ³² In those days has Yahweh begun to cut off [some] in Israel, and Hazael smites them in all the border of Israel, 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. 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? ³⁵ And Jehu lies with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and reign does Jehoahaz his son in his stead. ³⁶ And the days that Jehu has reigned over Israel [are] twenty and eight years, in Samaria.