Old/New Testament

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.

Chapter 11

The Rule of Athaliah. ¹ When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she killed all of the royal heirs. ² But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and secreted him away from the king’s sons who were being murdered. They hid him and his nurse from Athaliah in the bed chamber so that he might not die.

³ He was hidden with her for six years in the temple of the Lord, and Athaliah reigned over the land. ⁴ In the seventh year, Jehoiada sent for and summoned the captains of the hundreds, the Carites,^[d] and the guards. He brought them to the temple of the Lord. He made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the temple of the Lord. Then he showed them the king’s son.

⁵ He commanded them, “This is what you are to do: for the one-third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath: a third of you are to guard the king’s palace; ⁶ a third of you are to be at the Sur Gate; and a third at the gate behind the guard. Guard the palace. ⁷ For the other two-thirds of you who come off duty on the Sabbath and who keep guard in the temple of the Lord and the king’s palace, ⁸ surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹ The captains of the hundreds did everything that Jehoiada, the priest, had commanded. Each of them brought the men who were coming on duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were going off duty on the Sabbath and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

¹⁰ The priest gave the captains of the hundreds the spears and the shields that had belonged to King David and that were kept in the temple of the Lord. ¹¹ The guards stood with their weapons in their hands from the southern side of the temple to the northern side of the temple by the altar and the temple, surrounding the king.

¹² He brought the king’s son out and put a crown on him. He gave him the testimony, and they proclaimed him as king and anointed him, clapping their hands and proclaiming, “Long live the king!”

¹³ When Athaliah heard the noise from the guard and the people, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁴ She looked out and behold, the king was standing by a pillar,^[e] as was the custom, with the princes and the trumpeters standing by the king. All the people of the land rejoiced and blew the trumpets.

Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁵ Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds and the commanders of the army and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” (This was because the priest had said that she was not to be killed in the temple of the Lord.)

¹⁶ They seized her as she passed by the place where the horses enter the king’s palace. She was put to death there.

¹⁷ Jehoiada made a covenant^[f] between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made one between the king and the people.

¹⁸ All of the people went into the temple of Baal. They smashed to pieces his altars and his images. They killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

The priest then appointed guards for the temple of the Lord. ¹⁹ He took the captains of the hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and the people of the land with him and they brought down the king from the temple of the Lord and entered the royal palace by way of the guards’ gate. He then took his place on the royal throne.

²⁰ All of the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for Athaliah had been put to the sword in the royal palace.

²¹ Joash was seven years old when he began to reign.

Chapter 12

Reign of Joash. ¹ Joash began to reign during the seventh year of the reign of Jehu, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, and she was from Beer-sheba.

^2 [g]Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all of his days. Jehoiada, the priest, instructed him. ³ However, he did not eliminate the high places, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴ Joash said to the priests, “Gather all of the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord as a sacred offering, the money from the census, the money from personal vows, and all of the money that each man saw fit to bring to the temple of the Lord. ⁵ Let the priests each take it from their treasurers, and let them use it to repair whatever damage they might find in the temple.”

⁶ In spite of this, in the twenty-third year of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not yet repaired the damage in the temple. ⁷ King Joash therefore summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and he said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damage in the temple? Take no more money from the treasurers; hand it over for the repair of the temple.”

⁸ The priests agreed that they would take no more money from the people and that they, themselves, would not repair the damage in the temple. ⁹ Jehoiada took a chest and cut a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the temple of the Lord. The priests who guarded the door placed all of the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord in it. ¹⁰ When they saw that there was quite a bit of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest would come. They would count the money that was found in the temple of the Lord, and they would put it in bags.

¹¹ When the money had been counted, they placed it in the hands of the supervisor of the work being done on the temple of the Lord. With it they paid those who were working on the temple of the Lord: the carpenters and the builders, ¹² the masons, and the stonecutters. It was also used to buy wood and hewn stone that were used to repair the damage in the temple of the Lord, and for all of the expenses involved in repairing the temple.

¹³ However, the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord was not used to make silver basins, nor snuffers, nor sprinkling bowls, nor trumpets, nor any utensils made with gold, nor any utensils made with silver.

¹⁴ They gave it to the workmen who used it to repair the temple of the Lord. ¹⁵ Moreover, they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hands the money had been deposited for the payment of the workmen, for they acted honestly.^[h]

¹⁶ The money from guilt offerings and from sin offerings was not brought into the temple of the Lord for it belonged to the priests.^[i]

¹⁷ Hazael, the king of Aram, went up and fought against Gath. He captured it, and Hazael decided to go up to Jerusalem.

¹⁸ Joash, the king of Judah, took all of the sacred things that had been dedicated by Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his ancestors, the kings of Judah, and all of the sacred things that he had dedicated, and all of the gold that was found in the treasury of the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and he sent it to Hazael, the king of Aram, who then departed from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ As for the other deeds of Joash, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

²⁰ Joash’s servants plotted against him, and they killed him at Beth-millo, on the road going down to Silla. ²¹ His servants who killed him were Jozacar, the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, the son of Shomer.

He died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah, his son, reigned in his stead.

²⁹ Behold, the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World.^[a] The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said,

³² John also gave this testimony, saying,

³⁵ We Have Found the Messiah.^[e] The next day John was standing there with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and as he watched Jesus pass by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” ³⁷ On hearing him say this, the two disciples began to follow Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which, translated, is “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He answered them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him for the rest of that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.^[f]

⁴⁰ One of the two who had heard John speak and had followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to seek out his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah”^[g] (which, translated, is “Christ”), ⁴² and he took him to Jesus. Jesus gazed at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas”^[h] (which, translated, is “Peter”).

⁴³ The next day Jesus^[i] decided to go to Galilee. Encountering Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida,^[j] as Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael^[k] and said to him, “We have found the one about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Behold, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deception.”^{[l] 48} Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip summoned you, when you were under the fig tree,^[m] I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael said to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” ⁵⁰ Jesus responded, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹ Then he added, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”^[n]