2 Kings 10
1 And
Ahab had
seventy sons in
Samaria. And
Jehu wrote letters, and
sent to
Samaria, unto the
rulers of
Jezreel, to the
elders, and to them that brought
up Ahab's children,
saying,
2 Now as soon as this
letter cometh to you, seeing your
master's sons are with you, and there are with you
chariots and
horses, a
fenced city also, and
armour; 3 Look even
out the
best and
meetest of your
master's sons, and
set him on his
father's throne, and
fight for your
master's house. 4 But they were
exceedingly afraid, and
said, Behold,
two kings stood not
before him: how then shall we
stand?
5 And he that was over the
house, and he that was over the
city, the
elders also, and the bringers
up of the children,
sent to
Jehu, saying, We are thy
servants, and will
do all that thou shalt
bid us; we will not make
any king:
do thou that which is
good in thine
eyes. 6 Then he
wrote a
letter the second
time to them,
saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will
hearken unto my
voice, take ye the
heads of the
men your
master's sons, and
come to me to
Jezreel by to
morrow this
time. Now the
king's sons, being
seventy persons, were with the great
men of the
city, which brought them
up.
7 And it came to pass, when the
letter came to them, that they
took the
king's sons, and
slew seventy persons, and
put their
heads in
baskets, and
sent him them to
Jezreel. 8 And there
came a
messenger, and
told him,
saying, They have
brought the
heads of the
king's sons. And he
said,
Lay ye them in
two heaps at the entering
in of the
gate until the
morning. 9 And it came to pass in the
morning, that he went
out, and
stood, and
said to all the
people, Ye be
righteous: behold, I
conspired against my
master, and
slew him: but who
slew all these?
10 Know now that there shall
fall unto the
earth nothing of the
word of the
LORD, which the
LORD spake concerning the
house of
Ahab: for the
LORD hath
done that which he
spake by his
servant Elijah. 11 So
Jehu slew all that
remained of the
house of
Ahab in
Jezreel, and all his great
men, and his
kinsfolks, and his
priests, until he
left him none
remaining. 12 And he
arose and
departed, and
came to
Samaria. And as he was at the
shearing house in the
way, 13 Jehu met with the
brethren of
Ahaziah king of
Judah, and
said, Who are ye? And they
answered, We are the
brethren of
Ahaziah; and we go
down to
salute the
children of the
king and the
children of the
queen. 14 And he
said,
Take them
alive. And they
took them
alive, and
slew them at the
pit of the shearing
house, even
two and
forty men; neither
left he
any of them.
15 And when he was
departed thence, he
lighted on
Jehonadab the
son of
Rechab coming to
meet him: and he
saluted him, and
said to him,
Is thine
heart right, as my
heart is with thy
heart? And
Jehonadab answered, It
is. If it be,
give me thine
hand. And he
gave him his
hand; and he took him
up to him into the
chariot. 16 And he
said,
Come with me, and
see my
zeal for the
LORD. So they made him
ride in his
chariot. 17 And when he
came to
Samaria, he
slew all that
remained unto
Ahab in
Samaria, till he had
destroyed him, according to the
saying of the
LORD, which he
spake to
Elijah. 18 And
Jehu gathered all the
people together, and
said unto them,
Ahab served Baal a
little; but
Jehu shall
serve him
much.
19 Now therefore
call unto 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; whosoever shall be
wanting, he shall not
live. But
Jehu did it in
subtilty, to the intent that he might
destroy the
worshippers of
Baal. 20 And
Jehu said,
Proclaim a solemn
assembly for
Baal. And they
proclaimed it.
21 And
Jehu sent through all
Israel: and all the
worshippers of
Baal came, so that there was not a
man left that
came not. And they
came into the
house of
Baal; and the
house of
Baal was
full from one
end to
another. 22 And he
said unto him that was over the
vestry, Bring
forth vestments for all the
worshippers of
Baal. And he brought them
forth vestments. 23 And
Jehu went, and
Jehonadab the
son of
Rechab, into the
house of
Baal, and
said unto the
worshippers of
Baal, Search, and
look that there
be here with you none of the
servants of the
LORD, but the
worshippers of
Baal only.
24 And when they went
in to
offer sacrifices and burnt
offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and
said, If
any of the
men whom I have
brought into your
hands escape, he that letteth him go, his
life shall be for the
life of him.
25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an
end of
offering the burnt
offering, that
Jehu said to the
guard and to the
captains, Go
in, and
slay them; let
none come
forth. And they
smote them with the
edge of the
sword; and the
guard and the
captains cast them
out, and
went to the
city of the
house of
Baal. 26 And they brought
forth the
images out of the
house of
Baal, and
burned them.
27 And they brake
down the
image of
Baal, and brake
down the
house of
Baal, and
made it a draught
house unto this
day. 28 Thus
Jehu destroyed Baal out of
Israel. 29 Howbeit from the
sins of
Jeroboam the
son of
Nebat, who made
Israel to
sin,
Jehu departed not from
after them, to wit, the
golden calves that were in
Bethel, and that were in
Dan. 30 And the
LORD said unto
Jehu, Because thou hast done
well in
executing that which is
right in mine
eyes, and hast
done unto the
house of
Ahab according to all that was in mine
heart, thy
children of the
fourth generation shall
sit on the
throne of
Israel. 31 But
Jehu took no
heed to
walk in the
law of the
LORD God of
Israel with all his
heart: for he
departed not from the
sins of
Jeroboam, which made
Israel to
sin.
32 In those
days the
LORD began to
cut Israel short: and
Hazael smote them in all the
coasts of
Israel; 33 From
Jordan eastward, all the
land of
Gilead, the
Gadites, and the
Reubenites, and the
Manassites, from
Aroer, which is by the
river Arnon, even
Gilead and
Bashan. 34 Now 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? 35 And
Jehu slept with his
fathers: and they
buried him in
Samaria. And
Jehoahaz his
son reigned in his stead.
36 And the
time that
Jehu reigned over
Israel in
Samaria was
twenty and
eight years.