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2 Kings 10:18-28
New English Translation

Jehu Executes the Prophets and Priests of Baal

18 Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab worshiped[a] Baal a little; Jehu will worship[b] him with great devotion.[c] 19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests.[d] None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fails to appear will lose his life.” But Jehu was tricking them[e] so he could destroy the servants of Baal. 20 Then Jehu ordered, “Make arrangements for[f] a celebration for Baal.” So they announced it. 21 Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end.[g] 22 Jehu ordered the one who was in charge of the wardrobe,[h] “Bring out robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them. 23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went to the temple of Baal. Jehu[i] said to the servants of Baal, “Make sure there are no servants of the Lord here with you; there must be only servants of Baal.”[j] 24 They went inside to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside. He had told them, “If any of the men inside gets away, you will pay with your lives!”[k]

25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard[l] and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there.[m] Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal.[n] 26 They hauled out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished[o] the sacred pillar of Baal and[p] the temple of Baal; it is used as[q] a latrine[r] to this very day. 28 So Jehu eradicated Baal worship[s] from Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 10:18 tn Or “served.
  2. 2 Kings 10:18 tn Or “serve.”
  3. 2 Kings 10:18 tn Heb “much” or “greatly.”
  4. 2 Kings 10:19 tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”
  5. 2 Kings 10:19 tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”
  6. 2 Kings 10:20 tn Heb “set apart”; or “observe as holy.”
  7. 2 Kings 10:21 tn Heb “and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth.”
  8. 2 Kings 10:22 tn Heb “and he said to the one who was over the wardrobe.”
  9. 2 Kings 10:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. 2 Kings 10:23 tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the Lord, but only the servants of Baal.”
  11. 2 Kings 10:24 tn Heb “The man who escapes from the men whom I am bringing into your hands, [it will be] his life in place of his life.”
  12. 2 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “runners.”
  13. 2 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.
  14. 2 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (ʿir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (devir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (ʿad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”
  15. 2 Kings 10:27 tn Or “pulled down.”
  16. 2 Kings 10:27 tn The verb “they demolished” is repeated in the Hebrew text.
  17. 2 Kings 10:27 tn Heb “and they made it into.”
  18. 2 Kings 10:27 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has the hapax legomenon מַחֲרָאוֹת (makharaʾot), “places to defecate” or “dung houses” (note the related noun חֶרֶא (khereʾ)/חֲרִי (khari), “dung,” HALOT 348-49 s.v. *חֲרָאִים). The marginal reading (Qere) glosses this, perhaps euphemistically, מוֹצָאוֹת (motsaʾot), “outhouses.”
  19. 2 Kings 10:28 tn Heb “destroyed Baal.”
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2 Kings 10:18-28
Common English Bible

18 Then Jehu gathered all the people, saying to them, “Ahab served Baal a little. Jehu will serve him a great deal! 19 So invite all of Baal’s prophets, all his worshippers, and all his priests to come to me. Don’t leave anyone out, because I have a great sacrifice planned for Baal. Anyone who doesn’t show up won’t survive.” But Jehu was lying so that he could wipe out Baal’s worshippers. 20 Jehu called for a holy assembly for Baal, and it was done. 21 Jehu then sent word throughout Israel. All Baal’s worshippers came. No one stayed away. They entered Baal’s temple until it was packed from one end to the other. 22 Then Jehu said to the person in charge of the vestments, “Bring out the special clothes for all Baal’s worshippers.” So he brought out robes for them. 23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab, Rechab’s son, entered Baal’s temple. They said to Baal’s worshippers, “Make sure there are no worshippers of the Lord here with you. There should be only Baal worshippers.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and entirely burned offerings. But Jehu had stationed eighty soldiers outside and told them, “I’m handing these people over to you. Whoever lets even one of them escape will pay for it with his life.” 25 So when Jehu finished offering the entirely burned offering, he said to the guards and the officers, “Go in and kill everyone! Don’t let anyone escape!” They killed the Baal worshippers without mercy. The guards and the officers then disposed of the bodies and entered the inner part of Baal’s temple. 26 They brought the sacred pillar[a] out of Baal’s temple and burned it. 27 They tore down Baal’s sacred pillar and destroyed Baal’s temple, turning it into a public restroom, which is what it still is today.

28 This is how Jehu eliminated Baal from Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 10:26 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT pillars
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