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’schildren, saying,
Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master’s sonsarewith you, andthere arewith you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour;
Look even out the best and meetest of your master’s sons, and sethimon his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.
But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?
And he thatwasover the house, and he thatwasover the city, the elders also, and the bringers upof the children, sent to Jehu, saying, Wearethy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thouthat which isgood in thine eyes.
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If yebemine, andifye 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,beingseventy persons,werewith the great men of the city, which brought them up.
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 himthemto Jezreel.
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.
And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Yeberighteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of theLORD, which theLORDspake concerning the house of Ahab: for theLORDhath donethatwhich he spake by his servant Elijah.
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.
And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria.Andas hewasat the shearing house in the way,
Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Whoareye? And they answered, Wearethe brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.
And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house,eventwo and forty men; neither left he any of them.
And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechabcomingto meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heartiswith thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, givemethine hand. And he gavehimhis hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for theLORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.
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 theLORD, which he spake to Elijah.
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little;butJehu shall serve him much.
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 sacrificeto doto Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu diditin subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.
And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimedit.
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.
And he said unto him thatwasover the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.
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 theLORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.
And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said,Ifany of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape,he that letteth him go, his lifeshall befor the life of him.
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,andslay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains castthemout, and went to the city of the house of Baal.
And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.
And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.
Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
Howbeitfromthe sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them,to wit, the golden calves thatwerein Beth-el, and thatwerein Dan.
And theLORDsaid unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executingthat which isright in mine eyes,andhast done unto the house of Ahab according to all thatwasin mine heart, thy children of the fourthgenerationshall sit on the throne of Israel.
But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of theLORDGod of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.
In those days theLORDbegan to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;
From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, whichisby the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might,arethey not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.
And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samariawastwenty and eight years.