2 Kings 10
Young's Literal Translation
10 And Ahab hath seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writeth letters, and sendeth 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 armour,
3 and ye have seen the best and the uprightest of the sons of your lord, and have set [him] on the throne of his father, and fight ye 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, `Thy servants we [are], and all that thou sayest unto us we do; we do not make any one king -- that which [is] good in thine eyes do.'
6 And he writeth unto them a letter a second time, saying, `If ye [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 cometh 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 cometh in, and declareth to him, saying, `They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king,' and he saith, `Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate till the morning.'
9 And it cometh to pass in the morning, that he goeth out, and standeth, and saith unto all the people, `Righteous are ye; lo, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him -- and who smote all these?
10 Know ye now, that nothing doth fall of the word of Jehovah to the earth that Jehovah spake against the house of Ahab, and Jehovah hath done that which He spake by the hand of His servant Elijah.'
11 And Jehu smiteth all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, till he hath not left to him a remnant.
12 And he riseth, and cometh in and goeth to Samaria; he [is] at the shepherds' shearing-house in the way,
13 and Jehu hath found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and saith, `Who [are] ye?' 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 saith, `Catch them alive;' and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty and two men, and he hath not left a man of them.
15 And he goeth thence, and findeth Jehonadab son of Rechab -- to meet him, and blesseth him, and saith unto him, `Is thy heart right, as my heart [is] with thy heart?' and Jehonadab saith, `It is;' -- `Then it is; give thy hand;' and he giveth his hand, and he causeth him to come up into him into the chariot,
16 and saith, `Come with me, and look on my zeal for Jehovah;' and they cause him to ride in his chariot.
17 And he cometh in to Samaria, and smiteth all those left to Ahab in Samaria, till his destroying him, according to the word of Jehovah that He spake unto Elisha.
18 And Jehu gathereth the whole of the people, and saith unto them, `Ahab served Baal a little -- Jehu doth serve him much:
19 and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests, call ye unto me; let not a man be lacking, for a great sacrifice I have for Baal; every one who is lacking -- he doth not live;' and Jehu hath done [it] in subtilty, in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 And Jehu saith, `Sanctify a restraint for Baal;' and they proclaim [it].
21 And Jehu sendeth into all Israel, and all the servants of Baal come in, and there hath not been left a man who hath 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 saith to him who [is] over the wardrobe, `Bring out clothing to all servants of Baal;' and he bringeth out to them the clothing.
23 And Jehu goeth in, and Jehonadab son of Rechab, to the house of Baal, and saith to the servants of Baal, `Search and see, lest there be here with you of the servants of Jehovah -- but, the servants of Baal by themselves.'
24 And they come in to make sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and Jehu hath set for himself in an out-place eighty men, and saith, `The man who letteth escape [any] of the men whom I am bringing in unto your hand -- his soul for his soul.'
25 And it cometh to pass at his finishing to make the burnt-offering, that Jehu saith 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 destroyeth Baal out of Israel,
29 only -- the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin, Jehu hath not turned aside from after them -- the calves of gold that [are] at Beth-El, and in Dan.
30 And Jehovah saith unto Jehu, `Because that thou hast done well, to do that which [is] right in Mine eyes -- according to all that [is] in My heart thou hast done to the house of Ahab -- the sons of the fourth [generation] do sit for thee on the throne of Israel.'
31 And Jehu hath not taken heed to walk in the law of Jehovah, God of Israel, with all his heart, he hath not turned aside from the sins of Jeroboam, that he caused Israel to sin.
32 In those days hath Jehovah begun to cut off [some] in Israel, and Hazael smiteth 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 lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and reign doth Jehoahaz his son in his stead.
36 And the days that Jehu hath reigned over Israel [are] twenty and eight years, in Samaria.
2 Kings 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
The Killing of Ahab’s Descendants. 1 Now there were seventy sons of Ahab in Samaria, so Jehu wrote letters that he sent to Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and the guardians of Ahab’s children, saying,[a] 2 “As soon as you receive this letter, for your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses and a fortified city and armor, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him upon his father’s throne, and fight for your master.”
4 They were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, then how could we resist him?” 5 The major-domo of the palace who was in charge of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do whatever you tell us. We will not appoint anyone as king; we will do as you see fit.”
6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are with me and willing to obey me, then take off the heads[b] of these men, the sons of Ahab, and bring them to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
There were seventy sons of the king who were being raised by the leading citizens of the city. 7 When they received the letter, they slew the king’s sons, seventy of them, and they put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jezreel.
8 When the messenger arrived, he told him, “We have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” He said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance to the gates until the morning.”
9 The next morning, he went out and stood before all the people and said to them, “You are innocent! I plotted against my master and killed him, but who killed all of these? 10 Know then that not a word of the Lord which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab will fall to the ground. The Lord has fulfilled what he said through his servant Elijah.”
11 So Jehu killed all of those who remained from the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his chief men, all of his relatives, and all of his priests, so that none of them were left alive.
12 Ahaziah’s Kinsmen. He then rose up and left and went to Samaria. On the way, at Beth-eked of the shepherds, 13 Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah. He said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.” 14 He said, “Take them alive!” They took them alive and they slew them at the well of Beth-eked, forty-two of them. He did not leave any of them alive.
15 When he left there, he encountered Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, who came out to meet him. He greeted him and said, “Is your heart right? Is your heart with my heart?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” He said, “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand, and he took him up into his chariot. 16 He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. 17 When he arrived in Samaria, he killed all of those who were left of Ahab in Samaria until he had wiped them out, fulfilling what the Lord had said when he spoke through Elijah.
18 Baal’s Temple Destroyed. Jehu then gathered together all of the people and said to them, “Ahab only served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. 19 Summon all of the prophets of Baal to me, all of his servants, and all of his priests. Let no one be missing, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” Jehu did this as a trick so that he might put to death those who worshiped Baal. 20 Jehu said, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it.
21 Jehu sent throughout all of Israel, and all of the worshipers of Baal came. There was not a single one of them who did not come. The temple of Baal was full from one end to the other. 22 He said to the person who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring forth the vestments for all of the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought forth vestments for them.[c]
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went to the temple of Baal. He said to the worshipers of Baal, “Look around and see that there are no servants of the Lord here, only worshipers of Baal.” 24 They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Jehu posted eighty men and said, “If any of the men whom I have placed in your hands escapes, it will be your life for his life.” 25 As soon as he had finished offering up the burnt offerings, Jehu said to the guards and the captains, “Go in and slay them. Let no one escape.” They put them to the sword. The guards and the captains then cast them out, and they entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred pillars out from the temple of Baal and they burned them. 27 They smashed the idol of Baal, and they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a refuse dump, which it is up to the present. 28 Thus, Jehu destroyed Baal throughout Israel.
29 Death of Jehu. However, Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, that is, following the golden calves in Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done what was right in my sight, doing everything that was in my heart to the house of Ahab, your sons to the fourth generation will sit upon the throne of Israel.”
31 But Jehu did not take heed to walk in the ways of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart, nor did he turn away from the sins of Jeroboam who caused Israel to sin. 32 Therefore, the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel, and Hazael conquered them throughout all of the territory of Israel 33 to the east of the Jordan: all of the land of Gilead, that is, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer which is near the Arnon River, including Gilead and Bashan.
34 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehu, and all that he did, and his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz, his son, then reigned in his stead. 36 Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria for a period of twenty-eight years.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 10:1 The number seventy signifies the totality of Ahab’s sons (Gen 46:27; Jdg 8:30). In addition, “son” has a broad meaning in Hebrew and may therefore signify all the kinsmen with a right of succession.
- 2 Kings 10:6 Heads: a deliberately ambiguous word (it can mean “heads” in the literal sense, or “principal ones”), so that Jehu can say he had not given the order to kill (v. 9).
- 2 Kings 10:22 They changed their clothing as a preliminary purification for offering worship (see also Gen 35:2; Ex 19:10).
