2 Kings 10-11

New American Standard Bible

Judgment upon Ahab’s House

10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in ^(A)Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying, ² “And now, ^(B)when this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, ^[a]as well as the chariots and horses, and a fortified city and the weapons, ³ select the best and most capable of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” ⁴ But they feared greatly and said, “Behold, ^(C)the two kings did not stand firm before him; how then can we stand?” ⁵ And the one who was in charge of the household, and the one who was in charge of the city, and the elders, and the guardians of the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, “^(D)We are your servants, and everything that you tell us we will do. We will not appoint any man king; do what is good in your sight.” ⁶ Then he wrote them a letter a second time, saying, “If you are on my side, and will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel about this time tomorrow.” Now the king’s sons, seventy men, were with the great people of the city, who were raising them. ⁷ When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and ^(E)slaughtered them, seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel. ⁸ When the messenger came and informed him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.” ⁹ Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are ^[b]innocent; behold, ^(F)I conspired against my master and killed him, but ^(G)who ^[c]killed all these? ¹⁰ Know then that ^(H)nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, shall ^[d]fall to the earth, for the Lord has done ^(I)what He spoke ^[e]through His servant Elijah.” ¹¹ So Jehu ^[f]killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in ^(J)Jezreel, and all his great men, his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.

¹² Then he set out and ^[g]went to Samaria. On the way while he was at ^[h]Beth-eked of the shepherds, ^13 (K)Jehu ^[i]encountered the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they ^[j]answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we have come down 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 Now when he had gone from there, he ^[k]encountered ^(L)Jehonadab the son of ^(M)Rechab coming to meet him; and he ^[l]greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, just as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab ^[m]answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, ^(N)give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he pulled him up to him into the chariot. ¹⁶ Then he said, “Come with me and ^(O)see my zeal for the Lord.” So ^[n]he had him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷ When he came to Samaria, ^(P)he ^[o]killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had eliminated ^[p]them, ^(Q)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.

Jehu Destroys Baal Worshipers

¹⁸ Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “^(R)Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹ Now, ^(S)summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one go missing, because I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in deception, in order to eliminate the worshipers of Baal. ²⁰ And Jehu said, “^(T)Proclaim a holy assembly for Baal.” And ^(U)they proclaimed it. ²¹ Then Jehu sent word ^[q]throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a person left who did not come. And when they entered ^(V)the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. ²² And he said to the one who was ^[r]in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the garments for them. ²³ Then Jehu entered the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search carefully and see to it that there is here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but only the worshipers of Baal.” ²⁴ Then they entered to ^[s]offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

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

²⁵ Then it came about, as soon as he had finished ^[u]offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the ^[v](X)guard and to the royal officers, “^(Y)Go in, ^[w]kill them; let none come out.” So they ^[x]killed them with the edge of the sword; and the ^[y]guard and the royal officers threw them out, and went to the ^[z]sanctuary of the house of Baal. ²⁶ They brought out the ^(Z)memorial stones of the house of Baal and burned them. ²⁷ They also tore down the memorial stone of Baal and tore down the house of Baal, and ^(AA)made it a latrine as it is to this day.

²⁸ So Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel. ²⁹ However, ^(AB)as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel, from these Jehu did not desist, including the ^(AC)golden calves that were at Bethel and at Dan. ³⁰ Yet the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in performing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with everything that was in My heart, ^(AD)your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” ³¹ But Jehu ^(AE)was not careful to walk in the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; ^(AF)he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam, into which he misled Israel.

³² In those days the ^(AG)Lord began to cut off pieces from Israel; and ^(AH)Hazael ^[aa]defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: ³³ from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites; from ^(AI)Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, ^(AJ)Gilead and Bashan.

Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu

³⁴ Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehu and everything 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 ^[ab]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz became king in his place. ³⁶ So the ^[ac]time which Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Athaliah Queen of Judah

11 ^(AK)When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and eliminated all the royal ^[ad]children. ² But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, ^(AL)took Joash the son of Ahaziah and abducted him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. ³ So he was kept hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land.

^4 (AM)Now in the seventh year Jehoiada sent orders and brought the captains of hundreds of ^(AN)the Carites and of the ^[ae]guards, and brought them to himself at the house of the Lord. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath at the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s son. ⁵ And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: ^(AO)a third of you, who come in on the Sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house ⁶ (a third also shall be at the gate Sur, and a third at the gate behind the ^[af]guards), ^[ag]shall keep watch over the house ^[ah]for defense. ⁷ And two parts of you, all who go out on the Sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of the Lord for the king. ⁸ Then you shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And ^(AP)you are to be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹ So the captains of hundreds ^(AQ)acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the Sabbath, along with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰ Then ^(AR)the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ The ^[ai]guards stood, each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. ¹² Then he brought the king’s son out, and ^(AS)put the crown on him and gave him ^(AT)the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “^(AU)Long live the king!”

^13 (AV)When Athaliah heard the noise of the guards and of the people, she came to the people at the house of the Lord. ¹⁴ And she looked, and behold, the king was standing ^(AW)by the pillar according to the custom, with the captains and the ^[aj]trumpeters beside the king; and ^(AX)all the people of the land were joyful and were blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah ^(AY)tore her clothes and cried out, “^(AZ)Conspiracy! Conspiracy!” ¹⁵ And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were appointed over the army and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her, put to death with the sword!” For the priest said, “She is not to be put to death at the house of the Lord.” ¹⁶ So they ^[ak]seized her, and when ^[al]they brought her to the horses’ entrance of the king’s house, she was ^(BA)put to death there.

¹⁷ Then ^(BB)Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people, and ^(BC)between the king and the people. ¹⁸ And all the people of the land came to ^(BD)the house of Baal and tore it down; they thoroughly smashed ^(BE)his altars and his images in pieces, and they ^(BF)killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Then the priest appointed sentries over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹ And he took the captains of hundreds and the ^(BG)Carites, and the ^[am]guards and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, and came by way of ^(BH)the gate of the ^[an]guards to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰ So ^(BI)all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was ^[ao]peaceful. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.

^21 [ap](BJ)Jehoash was seven years old when he became king.