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2 Kings 10
Legacy Standard Bible

The Heads of Ahab’s Sons Sent to Jehu

10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in (A)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 “So now, (B)when this letter comes to you, [a]since your master’s sons are with you, [b]as well as the chariots and horses and a fortified city and the weapons, 3 look for the best and [c]fittest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” 4 But they feared exceedingly greatly and said, “Behold, (C)the two kings did not stand before him; how then can we stand?” 5 And the one who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders, and the guardians of the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, “(D)We are your servants, all that you say to us we will do, we will not make any man king; do what is good in your sight.” 6 Then he wrote a letter to them a second time saying, “If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me about this time tomorrow at Jezreel.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. 7 Now it happened that when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and (E)slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8 Then the messenger came and told him, 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 morning.” 9 Now it happened in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are righteous; behold, (F)I conspired against my master and killed him, but (G)who struck down all these? 10 Know then that (H)nothing from the word of Yahweh, which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab, shall fall to the earth. Indeed, Yahweh has done (I)what He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in (J)Jezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until [d]there was no survivor remaining for him.

12 Then he arose and came out and went to Samaria. On the way, while he was at [e]Beth-eked of the shepherds, 13 (K)Jehu found the [f]relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, “Who are you?” And they said, “We are the [g]relatives of Ahaziah; and we have come down [h]to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.” 14 Then he said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.

15 Then he went from there and found (L)Jehonadab the son of (M)Rechab coming to meet him; and he [i]blessed him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab [j]answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, (N)give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. 16 Then he said, “Come with me and (O)see my zeal for Yahweh.” So [k]he made him ride in his chariot. 17 And he came to Samaria (P)and struck down all who were left to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, (Q)according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke to Elijah.

Jehu Destroys the Slaves of Baal

18 Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “(R)Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 So now, (S)summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his slaves and all his priests; let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in [l]cunning, so that he might cause the slaves of Baal to perish. 20 And Jehu said, “(T)Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” And (U)they summoned them. 21 Then Jehu sent [m]throughout Israel, and all the slaves of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. So they came into (V)the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 Then he said to the one who was [n]in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the slaves of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them. 23 And Jehu came into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the slaves of Baal, “Search and see lest there be here with you any of the slaves of Yahweh, but only the slaves of Baal.” 24 Then they came in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Now Jehu had placed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “(W)The one who permits any of the men whom I cause to come into your hands to escape, [o]shall give up his life in exchange.”

25 Now it happened that as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the [p](X)guard and to the royal officers, “(Y)Come in, strike them down; let none come out.” And they struck them down with the edge of the sword; and the [q]guard and the royal officers threw them out and went to the [r]inner room of the house of Baal. 26 And they brought out the sacred (Z)pillars of the house of Baal and burned them. 27 They also broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and broke down the house of Baal and (AA)made it a latrine to this day.

28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 29 However, (AB)as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the (AC)golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. 30 And Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in doing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, (AD)your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 31 But Jehu [s](AE)was not careful to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart; (AF)he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin.

32 In those days (AG)Yahweh began to cut off portions [t]from Israel; and (AH)Hazael struck them throughout the territory of Israel: 33 from the Jordan to the east toward the sunrise, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from (AI)Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even (AJ)Gilead and Bashan.

Jehoahaz Reigns over Israel

34 Now 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? 35 And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son became king in his place. 36 Now the [u]time which Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 10:2 Lit and
  2. 2 Kings 10:2 Lit and with you the
  3. 2 Kings 10:3 Lit most upright
  4. 2 Kings 10:11 Lit he had no survivor
  5. 2 Kings 10:12 Lit house of binding
  6. 2 Kings 10:13 Lit brothers
  7. 2 Kings 10:13 Lit brothers
  8. 2 Kings 10:13 Lit about the peace of
  9. 2 Kings 10:15 Or greeted
  10. 2 Kings 10:15 Lit said
  11. 2 Kings 10:16 Lit they
  12. 2 Kings 10:19 Lit insidiousness
  13. 2 Kings 10:21 Lit in all
  14. 2 Kings 10:22 Lit over the
  15. 2 Kings 10:24 Lit his soul for his soul
  16. 2 Kings 10:25 Lit runners
  17. 2 Kings 10:25 Lit runners
  18. 2 Kings 10:25 Lit city
  19. 2 Kings 10:31 Lit did not watch
  20. 2 Kings 10:32 Lit in
  21. 2 Kings 10:36 Lit days
Close NLT

2 Kings 10
New Living Translation

Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family

10 Ahab had seventy sons living in the city of Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the elders and officials of the city,[a] and to the guardians of King Ahab’s sons. He said, 2 “The king’s sons are with you, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons. As soon as you receive this letter, 3 select the best qualified of your master’s sons to be your king, and prepare to fight for Ahab’s dynasty.”

4 But they were paralyzed with fear and said, “We’ve seen that two kings couldn’t stand against this man! What can we do?”

5 So the palace and city administrators, together with the elders and the guardians of the king’s sons, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and will do anything you tell us. We will not make anyone king; do whatever you think is best.”

6 Jehu responded with a second letter: “If you are on my side and are going to obey me, bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the seventy sons of the king were being cared for by the leaders of Samaria, where they had been raised since childhood. 7 When the letter arrived, the leaders killed all seventy of the king’s sons. They placed their heads in baskets and presented them to Jehu at Jezreel.

8 A messenger went to Jehu and said, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”

So Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate, and leave them there until morning.”

9 In the morning he went out and spoke to the crowd that had gathered around them. “You are not to blame,” he told them. “I am the one who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 You can be sure that the message of the Lord that was spoken concerning Ahab’s family will not fail. The Lord declared through his servant Elijah that this would happen.” 11 Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s relatives living in Jezreel and all his important officials, his personal friends, and his priests. So Ahab was left without a single survivor.

12 Then Jehu set out for Samaria. Along the way, while he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13 he met some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah. “Who are you?” he asked them.

And they replied, “We are relatives of King Ahaziah. We are going to visit the sons of King Ahab and the sons of the queen mother.”

14 “Take them alive!” Jehu shouted to his men. And they captured all forty-two of them and killed them at the well of Beth-eked. None of them escaped.

15 When Jehu left there, he met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was coming to meet him. After they had greeted each other, Jehu said to him, “Are you as loyal to me as I am to you?”

“Yes, I am,” Jehonadab replied.

“If you are,” Jehu said, “then give me your hand.” So Jehonadab put out his hand, and Jehu helped him into the chariot. 16 Then Jehu said, “Now come with me, and see how devoted I am to the Lord.” So Jehonadab rode along with him.

17 When Jehu arrived in Samaria, he killed everyone who was left there from Ahab’s family, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal

18 Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and said to them, “Ahab’s worship of Baal was nothing compared to the way I will worship him! 19 Therefore, summon all the prophets and worshipers of Baal, and call together all his priests. See to it that every one of them comes, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who fails to come will be put to death.” But Jehu’s cunning plan was to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.

20 Then Jehu ordered, “Prepare a solemn assembly to worship Baal!” So they did. 21 He sent messengers throughout all Israel summoning those who worshiped Baal. They all came—not a single one remained behind—and they filled the temple of Baal from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu instructed the keeper of the wardrobe, “Be sure that every worshiper of Baal wears one of these robes.” So robes were given to them.

23 Then Jehu went into the temple of Baal with Jehonadab son of Recab. Jehu said to the worshipers of Baal, “Make sure no one who worships the Lord is here—only those who worship Baal.” 24 So they were all inside the temple to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty of his men outside the building and had warned them, “If you let anyone escape, you will pay for it with your own life.”

25 As soon as Jehu had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, he commanded his guards and officers, “Go in and kill all of them. Don’t let a single one escape!” So they killed them all with their swords, and the guards and officers dragged their bodies outside.[b] Then Jehu’s men went into the innermost fortress[c] of the temple of Baal. 26 They dragged out the sacred pillar[d] used in the worship of Baal and burned it. 27 They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day.

28 In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. 29 He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.

30 Nonetheless the Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore, your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation.” 31 But Jehu did not obey the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

The Death of Jehu

32 At about that time the Lord began to cut down the size of Israel’s territory. King Hazael conquered several sections of the country 33 east of the Jordan River, including all of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. He conquered the area from the town of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge to as far north as Gilead and Bashan.

34 The rest of the events in Jehu’s reign—everything he did and all his achievements—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

35 When Jehu died, he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Jehoahaz became the next king. 36 In all, Jehu reigned over Israel from Samaria for twenty-eight years.

Footnotes

  1. 10:1 As in some Greek manuscripts and Latin Vulgate (see also 10:6); Hebrew reads of Jezreel.
  2. 10:25a Or and they left their bodies lying there; or and they threw them out into the outermost court.
  3. 10:25b Hebrew city.
  4. 10:26 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads sacred pillars.
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New Living Translation (NLT)

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