Old/New Testament
Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family
10 Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, so Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, that is, to the officials of Samaria,[a] the elders, and to the guardians appointed by Ahab, saying, 2 “Now, when this letter comes to you, since you have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons, 3 choose the best and most upright of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.”
4 They were terrified and said, “Look, two kings could not stand before him, so how can we?”
5 Then the palace administrator, the ruler of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do everything you tell us. We will not make any man king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.”
6 Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at this time tomorrow in Jezre’el.”
Now the king’s seventy sons were with the leaders of the city who were raising them. 7 When the letter came, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy of them. Then they put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezre’el. 8 When the messenger arrived, he said, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance to the gate until morning.”
9 When morning came, he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. Indeed I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 Know, therefore, that nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab, will fail. For the Lord did what he said through his servant Elijah.”
11 Then Jehu killed everyone who remained from the house of Ahab in Jezre’el and all his important people, his close friends, and his priests, so that no survivor was left to him.
12 Then he set out toward Samaria. While he was on the way, at Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah. He said, “Who are you?” They said, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives. We have come down to greet the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons.”
14 Then he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them. Then they slaughtered them at the cistern of Beth Eked—forty-two men, and he did not let one survive.
15 Then he set out from there and met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Is your heart as true to my heart as my heart is to yours?”
He said, “It is.”
Then Jehu said, “If it is, then give me your hand!” So Jehonadab gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot.
16 Then Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had him ride with him in his chariot. 17 When he came to Samaria, he struck down everyone who was left to Ahab there. He wiped out Ahab completely, according to the word which the Lord had spoken to Elijah.
Jehu Slaughters the Prophets of Baal
18 Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little. Jehu will serve him a great deal. 19 But now, gather all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests! Let no one be missing because I am going to make a great sacrifice to Baal. No one who misses it will live.”
But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to exterminate the servants of Baal.
20 Then Jehu said, “Consecrate a festival for Baal,” and they proclaimed it.
21 Then Jehu sent word through all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came. Not a man was left who did not come. They came into the temple[b] of Baal so that the temple of Baal was filled from end to end. 22 Then he said to the person in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Recab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Make a careful search, and see to it that there are no servants of the Lord with you, but only servants of Baal.”
24 Then they went in to make sacrifices and whole burnt offerings. But Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “If any man escapes from these men whom I am putting into your hands, it will be your life for his life.”
25 When he was finished offering the whole burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and to the officers, “Go strike them down! Don’t let anyone out!” So they struck them down with their swords, and the guards and the officers threw the bodies out. They then went into the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred memorial stones out from the temple of Baal and burned them. 27 They tore down the memorial stone for Baal and tore down the temple of Baal. They have used it for a latrine to this day. 28 In this way Jehu exterminated Baal worship from Israel.
Jehu Falters in His Faithfulness
29 But when it came to the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from following the golden calves which were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 But the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well by doing what is right in my eyes—you have done everything that was in my heart to the house of Ahab—four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”
31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins which Jeroboam caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days, the Lord began to break off pieces from Israel. Then Hazael attacked all the territory of Israel 33 east of the Jordan, all the land of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer, which is above the canyon of the Arnon, up to Gilead and Bashan.
34 As for the rest of Jehu’s acts and everything he did and all his mighty deeds, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 35 Jehu rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then his son Jehoahaz became king in his place. 36 The time that Jehu ruled as king over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Athaliah Seizes Control
11 When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she went into action and destroyed all the royal heirs.[c] 2 But Jehosheba, King Joram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah. She stole him away from among the king’s sons, who were to be killed. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom. He was kept hidden from Athaliah so that he was not killed. 3 He was kept hidden with her in the House of the Lord for six years while Athaliah was ruling over the land.
Jehoiada Makes Joash King
4 In the seventh year, Jehoiada sent a message and summoned the officers in charge of the units[d] of the Carians[e] and the guards to meet him at the House of the Lord. He made a covenant with them and had them swear an oath in the House of the Lord. Then he showed them the king’s son.
5 He commanded them, “This is how you will deploy: A third of you who are coming on duty on the Sabbath are to guard the palace of the king. 6 Another third will be stationed at the Sur Gate,[f] and the final third at the gate behind the guards who take turns protecting this temple.[g] 7 The two divisions of you who are going off duty on the Sabbath will protect the House of the Lord, together with the king.[h] 8 You will surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who comes into the ranks will be put to death. You will accompany the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”
9 So the officers of the companies did just as Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each one took his men, those coming on duty on the Sabbath with those going off duty on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 The priest gave the officers in charge of the units the spears and shields which had belonged to King David and which were in the House of the Lord. 11 So the guards, each one with his weapon in his hand, stood around the king from the south side of the temple to the north side, near the altar of the temple. 12 Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and set the crown on him and gave him the Testimony,[i] and they made him king. They anointed him and clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”
Athaliah’s Death
13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guards and the people, she went to them in the House of the Lord. 14 She looked, and there was the king standing beside the pillar according to the custom, and the officers and the trumpeters were in front of the king, and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”
15 Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the officers in charge of the units of the army, “Bring her out between the ranks! Anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword!”
Because the priest had said, “She is not to be killed in the House of the Lord,” 16 they laid hands on her as she was going through the passageway where the horses enter the king’s palace, and they killed her there.
17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed its altar and its idols till they were dust. They also killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. Then the priest posted a watch over the House of the Lord.
19 Then he took the officers of the companies and the Carians and the guards and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the House of the Lord. They entered the king’s palace through the gate of the guards. Then he sat on the throne of the kings. 20 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah had been put to death with the sword in the king’s palace.
21 Joash was seven years old when he became king.
Jehoash (Joash) Son of Ahaziah, King of Judah, Repairs the House of the Lord
12 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash[j] became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.[k]
2 Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord during the whole time that Jehoiada the priest instructed him, 3 but the high places were still not removed. The people were making sacrifices and burning incense on the high places.
4 Jehoash said to the priests, “All the silver from the sacred offerings which is brought into the House of the Lord—the redemption money which is assessed to each man in the census, all the money from the redemption of dedicated things, and all the money which any man brings to the House of the Lord as a gift from his heart— 5 the priests are to take it from the donor[l] and repair whatever damage is found in the temple.”[m]
6 But in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had not repaired the damage to the temple. 7 So King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and he said to them, “Why aren’t you repairing the damage to the temple? Do not accept any more silver from those who are handing it in to you. Instead, put it toward repairing the damage to the temple.”
8 So the priests agreed that they would not take any silver from the people and that they themselves would not do the work of repairing the damage to the temple.
9 But Jehoiada the priest took a box, drilled a hole in its lid, and placed it at the right side of the altar as one entered the House of the Lord. Then the priests who were guarding the threshold put all the money which came into the House of the Lord there. 10 When they saw that there was a large quantity of silver in the box, the king’s secretary and the high priest went up and tied it in bags and tallied[n] the silver which was found in the House of the Lord.
11 Then they gave the silver which had been weighed out to those who were overseeing the work on the House of the Lord. They paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who were working on the House of the Lord, 12 and to the bricklayers and the stonemasons, who used it to buy wood and stone from the quarry to repair the damage to the House of the Lord and to meet all the expenses for repairing the building.
13 But the silver basins, snuffers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, and all the gold and silver articles for the House of the Lord were not made from this silver which was brought into the House of the Lord. 14 Rather they paid it to the ones who were doing the work, and they repaired the House of the Lord with it. 15 They did not audit the men to whom they gave the silver to do the work, because they were acting honestly. 16 The silver from the restitution offerings and the silver from the sin offerings was not brought into the House of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.
Hazael Attacks Jerusalem
17 Then Hazael king of Aram came up and attacked Gath and captured it. Hazael turned to go up against Jerusalem. 18 So Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred articles which his fathers Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, as well as the sacred articles that he himself had given and all the gold which was found in the treasuries of the House of the Lord and in the king’s palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael left Jerusalem.
The Wickedness and Death of Jehoash
19 As for the rest of the acts of Jehoash[o] and all the things he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 His servants conspired against him and killed Jehoash at Beth Millo, along the road down to Silla. 21 His servants Jozabad[p] son of Shimath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. They buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.
The Lamb of God
29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘The one coming after me outranks me because he existed before me.’ 31 I myself did not know who he was, but I came baptizing with water so that he would be revealed to Israel.”
32 John also testified, “I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and remain on him. 33 I myself did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this myself and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
The First Disciples
35 The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. 36 When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
38 When Jesus turned around and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 He told them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying. They stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.[a]
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his own brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated “the Christ”).[b] 42 He brought him to Jesus.
Looking at him, Jesus said, “You are Simon, son of Jonah.[c] You will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).[d]
43 The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”
“Come and see!” Philip told him.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus replied, “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,[e] I tell you:[f] You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.