New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family

Ahab had seventy sons living in the city of Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the elders and officials of the city,a and to the guardians of King Ahab’s sons. He said,

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Jehu Slaughters Ahab's Family

Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jizreel, to the elders, and to Ahab's guardians, saying,

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“The king’s sons are with you, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons. As soon as you receive this letter,

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And now, when this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots, and horses, and a fortified city, and armour,

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select the best qualified of your master’s sons to be your king, and prepare to fight for Ahab’s dynasty.”

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look out the best and worthiest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

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But they were paralyzed with fear and said, “We’ve seen that two kings couldn’t stand against this man! What can we do?”

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And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand?

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So the palace and city administrators, together with the elders and the guardians of the king’s sons, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and will do anything you tell us. We will not make anyone king; do whatever you think is best.”

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And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, and the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any one king; do what is good in thy sight.

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Jehu responded with a second letter: “If you are on my side and are going to obey me, bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the seventy sons of the king were being cared for by the leaders of Samaria, where they had been raised since childhood.

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And he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If ye are mine, and will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jizreel to-morrow at this time. Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

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When the letter arrived, the leaders killed all seventy of the king’s sons. They placed their heads in baskets and presented them to Jehu at Jezreel.

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And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel.

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A messenger went to Jehu and said, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”
So Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate, and leave them there until morning.”

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And a messenger came and told him saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

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In the morning he went out and spoke to the crowd that had gathered around them. “You are not to blame,” he told them. “I am the one who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

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And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these?

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You can be sure that the message of the LORD that was spoken concerning Ahab’s family will not fail. The LORD declared through his servant Elijah that this would happen.”

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Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah.

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Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s relatives living in Jezreel and all his important officials, his personal friends, and his priests. So Ahab was left without a single survivor.

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And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

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Then Jehu set out for Samaria. Along the way, while he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds,

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Juhu Slays Ahaziah's Brothers

And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds' meeting-place on the way,

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he met some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah. “Who are you?” he asked them.
And they replied, “We are relatives of King Ahaziah. We are going to visit the sons of King Ahab and the sons of the queen mother.”

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Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.

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“Take them alive!” Jehu shouted to his men. And they captured all forty-two of them and killed them at the well of Beth-eked. None of them escaped.

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And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining.

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When Jehu left there, he met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was coming to meet him. After they had greeted each other, Jehu said to him, “Are you as loyal to me as I am to you?”
“Yes, I am,” Jehonadab replied.
“If you are,” Jehu said, “then give me your hand.” So Jehonadab put out his hand, and Jehu helped him into the chariot.

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Ahab's Remaining Family Killed

And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. -- If it be, give [me] thy hand. -- And he gave [him] his hand; and [Jehu] took him up to him into the chariot,

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Then Jehu said, “Now come with me, and see how devoted I am to the LORD.” So Jehonadab rode along with him.

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and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.

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When Jehu arrived in Samaria, he killed everyone who was left there from Ahab’s family, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.

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And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah.

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Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal

Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and said to them, “Ahab’s worship of Baal was nothing compared to the way I will worship him!

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Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal

And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much.

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Therefore, summon all the prophets and worshipers of Baal, and call together all his priests. See to it that every one of them comes, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who fails to come will be put to death.” But Jehu’s cunning plan was to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.

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And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal.

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Then Jehu ordered, “Prepare a solemn assembly to worship Baal!” So they did.

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And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed [it].

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He sent messengers throughout all Israel summoning those who worshiped Baal. They all came — not a single one remained behind — and they filled the temple of Baal from one end to the other.

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And Jehu sent into all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not: and they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other.

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And Jehu instructed the keeper of the wardrobe, “Be sure that every worshiper of Baal wears one of these robes.” So robes were given to them.

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And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

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Then Jehu went into the temple of Baal with Jehonadab son of Recab. Jehu said to the worshipers of Baal, “Make sure no one who worships the LORD is here — only those who worship Baal.”

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And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the servants of Baal only.

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So they were all inside the temple to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty of his men outside the building and had warned them, “If you let anyone escape, you will pay for it with your own life.”

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And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him.

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As soon as Jehu had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, he commanded his guards and officers, “Go in and kill all of them. Don’t let a single one escape!” So they killed them all with their swords, and the guards and officers dragged their bodies outside.b Then Jehu’s men went into the innermost fortressc of the temple of Baal.

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And it came to pass as soon as they had ended offering up the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the couriers and to the captains, Go in, slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the couriers and the captains cast [them] there. And they went to the city of the house of Baal,

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They dragged out the sacred pillard used in the worship of Baal and burned it.

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and brought forth the columns out of the house of Baal, and burned them;

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They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day.

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and they broke down the column of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house to this day.

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In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel.

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Thus Jehu extirpated Baal out of Israel.

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He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.

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Jehu Repeats Jeroboam's Sins

Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: [from] the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

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Nonetheless the LORD said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore, your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation.”

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And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, [and] hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel.

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But Jehu did not obey the Law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

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But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.

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The Death of Jehu

At about that time the LORD began to cut down the size of Israel’s territory. King Hazael conquered several sections of the country

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Hazael Oppresses Israel

In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel;

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east of the Jordan River, including all of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. He conquered the area from the town of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge to as far north as Gilead and Bashan.

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from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, both Gilead and Bashan.

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The rest of the events in Jehu’s reign — everything he did and all his achievements — are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

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Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu in Israel

And the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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When Jehu died, he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Jehoahaz became the next king.

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And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

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In all, Jehu reigned over Israel from Samaria for twenty-eight years.

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Now the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Parallel

New Living Translation

Darby Bible Translation

2 Kings 10

2 Kings 10