10 ¶ And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria unto the princes of Jezreel, to the elders, and to those that brought up Ahab’s children, saying,

² Now as soon as this letter comes to you, unto those who have your master’s sons and who have chariots and horsemen and who have the arms and munitions of the city,

³ see which is the best and most upright of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.

⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid and said, Behold, two kings could not stand before him; how then shall we stand?

⁵ And he that was over the house and he that was over the city, the elders also, and those who had brought up the children sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy slaves and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king; thou shalt do that which is good in thy eyes.

⁶ Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye are mine and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take the heads of the male sons of your master and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy males, were with the great men of the city, who had brought them up.

⁷ And when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slew seventy males and put their heads in baskets and sent him them to Jezreel.

⁸ And a messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

⁹ And in the morning, he went out and stood and said to all the people, Ye are righteous; behold, I conspired against my master and slew him; but who slew all these?

¹⁰ Know now that of the word of the LORD which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, nothing shall fall to the ground, for the LORD has done that which he spoke by his slave Elijah.

¹¹ So Jehu slew all that had remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and all his kinsfolk and all his priests until he left him none remaining.

¹² And he arose and departed and came to Samaria. And as he was at a pastor’s shearing house in the way,

¹³ Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah, and we go down to salute the sons of the king and the sons of the queen.

¹⁴ So he said, Take them alive. And after they took them alive, they slew them at the well of the shearing house, forty-two men, without leaving any of them.

¹⁵ ¶ And when he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab; and after he saluted him, he said to him, Is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it is, give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.

¹⁶ And he said, Come with me, and thou shalt see my zeal for the LORD. So they had him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷ And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that had remained of Ahab in Samaria, until he had completely destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD which he had spoken to Elijah.

⁸ And it came to pass that when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab and found the princes of Judah and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.

⁹ And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him (for he had hid himself in Samaria) and brought him to Jehu; and when they had slain him, they buried him, Because, they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no strength to be able to retain the kingdom.

¹⁸ And Jehu gathered all the people together and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little but Jehu shall serve him much.

¹⁹ Now, therefore, call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let no one be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whoever is lacking shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty to the intent that he might destroy those that served Baal.

²⁰ And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

²¹ And Jehu sent through all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was no one lacking that did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.

²² And he said to the one that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all those that served Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

²³ And Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal and said unto the servants of Baal, Search and make sure that none of the slaves of the LORD are here with you, but only the servants of Baal.

²⁴ And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu put eighty men outside and said, Whoever leaves alive any of the men whom I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for that of the other.

²⁵ And after they had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to those of his guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none escape. And they smote them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the captains left them where they fell and went to the city of the house of Baal,

²⁶ and they removed the images out of the house of Baal and burned them.

²⁷ And they broke down the image of Baal and broke down the house of Baal and made it a latrine unto this day.

²⁸ Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

²⁹ ¶ However with all this, Jehu did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin with the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.

³⁰ And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in my eyes and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation.

³¹ But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; neither did he depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin.

³² In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short, and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel,

³³ from the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, all the land of Gilead, of Gad, of Reuben, and of Manasses, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, to Gilead and to Bashan.

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, reigned in his stead.

³⁶ The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

11 ¶ And Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, seeing that her son was dead, arose and destroyed all the royal seed.

² But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

³ And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years, and Athaliah was queen over the land.

¹⁰ ¶ So when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed of the house of Judah.

¹¹ But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were being slain, and kept him and his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada, the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

¹² And he was with them hid in the house of God six years; and Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴ ¶ But the seventh year Jehoiada sent and took rulers over hundreds, captains and people of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD and made a covenant with them, causing them to swear an oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king’s son.

⁵ And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; a third part of you that shall enter in on the sabbath shall be the keepers of the watch of the king’s house;

⁶ and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; {Heb. turning aside} and a third part at the gate behind the guard; so ye shall have the watch of the house of Mesah. {Heb. broken down}

⁷ And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.

⁸ And ye shall compass the king round about, each man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within these orders shall be slain. Ye must be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in.

⁹ And the captains over the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada, the priest, commanded; and each man took his men that were to come in on the sabbath with those that should go out on the sabbath and came to Jehoiada, the priest.

¹⁰ And the priest gave the captains over hundreds King David’s spears and shields that were in the house of the LORD.

¹¹ And the guard stood, each man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the house to the left corner of the house, next to the altar and the house.

¹² Then he brought forth the king’s son and put the crown upon him and gave him the testimony, and they made him king by anointing him; and they clapped their hands and said, Long live the king.

23 ¶ And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah, the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael, the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah, the son of Obed, and Maaseiah, the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat, the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

² And they went about in Judah and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah and the heads of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³ And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son who shall reign, as the LORD has said of the sons of David.

⁴ This is the thing that ye must do: A third part of you, those who enter on the sabbath, shall be porters at the doors with the priests and the Levites;

⁵ and a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation; and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.

⁶ But let no one come into the house of the LORD, except the priests and the Levites that minister; they shall go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

⁷ And the Levites shall compass the king round about, each one shall have his weapons in his hand; and whoever else comes into the house shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.

⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all the things that Jehoiada, the priest, had commanded, and each one took his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath with those that were to go out on the sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the courses.

⁹ Moreover, Jehoiada, the priest, delivered to the captains of hundreds spears and bucklers and shields, that had been king David’s, which were in the house of God.

¹⁰ And he set all the people in order, each one having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about.

¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown upon him and gave him the testimony and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, Long live the king.