1 Ahab had nowe seuentie sonnes in Samaria. And Iehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria vnto the rulers of Izreel, and to the Elders, and to the bringers vp of Ahabs children, to this effect, 2 Nowe when this letter commeth to you, (for ye haue with you your masters sonnes, yee haue with you both charets and horses, and a defenced citie, and armour) 3 Consider therefore which of your masters sonnes is best and most meete, and set him on his fathers throne, and fight for your masters house. 4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and saide, Behold two Kings coulde not stande before him, how shall we then stand? 5 And he that was gouernour of Ahabs house, and he that ruled the citie, and the Elders, and the bringers vp of the children sent to Iehu, saying, We are thy seruants, and will doe all that thou shalt bid vs: we will make no King: do what seemeth good to thee. 6 Then he wrote another letter to them, saying, If ye be mine, and wil obey my voyce, take the heads of ye men that are your masters sonnes, and come to me to Izreel by to morowe this time. (Nowe the Kings sonnes, euen seuentie persons were with the great men of the citie, which brought them vp) 7 And when the letter came to them, they tooke the Kings sonnes, and slewe the seuentie persons, and layde their heads in baskets, and sent them vnto him to Izreel. 8 Then there came a messenger and tolde him, saying, They haue brought the heads of the Kings sonnes. And he sayd, Let them lay them on two heapes at the entring in of the gate vntil the morning. 9 And when it was day, he went out, and stood and sayd to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these? 10 Knowe nowe that there shall fall vnto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath brought to passe the things that hee spake by his seruant Eliiah. 11 So Iehu slew al that remained of the house of Ahab in Izreel, and all that were great with him, and his familiars and his priestes, so that he let none of his remaine. 12 And he arose, and departed and came to Samaria. And as Iehu was in the way by an house where the shepheards did shere, 13 He met with the brethre of Ahaziah king of Iudah, and sayd, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah, and goe downe to salute the children of the King and the children of the Queene. 14 And he sayde, Take them aliue. And they tooke them aliue, and slew them at the well beside the house where the sheepe are shorne, euen two and fourtie men, and he left not one of them. 15 And when he was departed thence, hee met with Iehonadab the sonne of Rechab comming to meete him, and he blessed him, and sayde to him, Is thine heart vpright, as mine heart is towarde thine? And Iehonadab answered, Yea, doubtlesse. Then giue me thine hande. And when he had giuen him his hande, he tooke him vp to him into the charet. 16 And he sayde, Come with me, and see the zeale that I haue for the Lord: so they made him ride in his charet. 17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained vnto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the worde of the Lord, which he spake to Eliiah. 18 Then Iehu assembled all the people, and sayd vnto them, Ahab serued Baal a litle, but Iehu shall serue him much more. 19 Now therefore call vnto me all ye prophets of Baal, all his seruants, and all his priests, and let not a man be lacking: for I haue a great sacrifice for Baal: whosoeuer is lacking, he shall not liue. But Iehu did it by a subtiltie to destroy ye seruats of Baal. 20 And Iehu sayd, Proclaime a solemne assemblie for Baal. And they proclaimed it. 21 So Iehu sent vnto all Israel, and all the seruants of Baal came, and 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 ende to ende. 22 Then he said vnto him that had the charge of the vestrie, Bring forth vestments for al the seruants of Baal. And he brought the out vestments. 23 And when Iehu went, and Iehonadab the sonne of Rechab into the house of Baal, he sayde vnto the seruants of Baal, Searche diligently, and looke, lest there be here with you any of the seruants of the Lord, but the seruants of Baal only. 24 And when they went in to make sacrifice and burnt offering, Iehu appoynted foure score men without, and sayd, If any of the men whome I haue brought into your hands, escape, his soule shalbe for his soule. 25 And when hee had made an ende of the burnt offring, Iehu sayde to the garde, and to the captaines, Goe in, slay them, let not a man come out. And they smote them with the edge of the sworde. And the garde, and the captaines cast them out, and went vnto the citie, where was the temple of Baal. 26 And they brought out the images of the temple of Baal, and burnt them. 27 And they destroyed the image of Baal, and threwe downe the house of Baal, and made a iakes of it vnto this day. 28 So Iehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 29 But from the sinnes of Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat which made Israel to sinne, Iehu departed not from them, neither from the golden calues that were in Beth-el and that were in Dan. 30 And the Lord sayde vnto Iehu, Because thou hast diligently executed that which was right in mine eyes, and hast done vnto the house of Ahab according to all things that were in mine heart, therefore shall thy sonnes vnto the fourth generation sit on the throne of Israel. 31 But Iehu regarded not to walke in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for hee departed not from the sinnes of Ieroboam, which made Israel to sinne. 32 In those dayes the Lord began to lothe Israel, and Hazael smote them in all the coastes of Israel, 33 From Iorden Eastward, euen all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and them that were of Manasseh, from Aroer (which is by the riuer Arnon) and Gilead and Bashan. 34 Concerning the rest of the actes of Iehu, and all that he did, and all his valiant deedes, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 35 And Iehu slept with his fathers, and they buryed him in Samaria, and Iehoahaz his sonne reigned in his stead. 36 And the time that Iehu reigned ouer Israel in Samaria is eight and twentie yeeres.
The Descendants of Ahab Are Killed
1 There were seventy descendants of King Ahab living in the city of Samaria. Jehu wrote a letter and sent copies to the rulers of the city, to the leading citizens, and to the guardians of Ahab's descendants. The letter read: 2 “You are in charge of the king's descendants, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, weapons, and fortified cities. So then, as soon as you receive this letter, 3 you are to choose the best qualified of the king's descendants, make him king, and fight to defend him.”
4 The rulers of Samaria were terrified. “How can we oppose Jehu,” they said, “when neither King Joram nor King Ahaziah could?” 5 So the officer in charge of the palace and the official in charge of the city, together with the leading citizens and the guardians, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we are ready to do anything you say. But we will not make anyone king; do whatever you think best.”
6 Jehu wrote them another letter: “If you are with me and are ready to follow my orders, bring the heads of King Ahab's descendants to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
The seventy descendants of King Ahab were under the care of the leading citizens of Samaria, who were bringing them up. 7 When Jehu's letter was received, the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's descendants, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
8 When Jehu was told that the heads of Ahab's descendants had been brought, he ordered them to be piled up in two heaps at the city gate and to be left there until the following morning. 9 In the morning he went out to the gate and said to the people who were there, “I was the one who plotted against King Joram and killed him; you are not responsible for that. But who killed all these? 10 This proves that everything that the Lord said about the descendants of Ahab will come true. The Lord has done what he promised through his prophet Elijah.” 11 Then Jehu put to death all the other relatives of Ahab living in Jezreel, and all his officers, close friends, and priests; not one of them was left alive.
The Relatives of King Ahaziah Are Killed
12 Jehu left Jezreel to go to Samaria. On the way, at a place called “Shepherds' Camp,” 13 he met some relatives of the late King Ahaziah of Judah and asked them, “Who are you?”
“Ahaziah's relatives,” they answered. “We are going to Jezreel to pay our respects to the children of Queen Jezebel and to the rest of the royal family.” 14 Jehu ordered his men, “Take them alive!” They seized them, and he put them to death near a pit there. There were forty-two people in all, and not one of them was left alive.
All Remaining Relatives of Ahab Are Killed
15 Jehu started out again, and on his way he was met by Jonadab son of Rechab. Jehu greeted him and said, “You and I think alike. Will you support me?”
“I will,” Jonadab answered.
“Give me your hand, then,” Jehu replied. They clasped hands, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot, 16 saying, “Come with me and see for yourself how devoted I am to the Lord.” And they rode on together to Samaria. 17 When they arrived there, Jehu killed all of Ahab's relatives, not sparing even one. This is what the Lord had told Elijah would happen.
The Worshipers of Baal Are Killed
18 Jehu called the people of Samaria together and said, “King Ahab served the god Baal a little, but I will serve him much more. 19 Call together all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests. No one is excused; I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal, and whoever is not present will be put to death.” (This was a trick on the part of Jehu by which he meant to kill all the worshipers of Baal.) 20 Then Jehu ordered, “Proclaim a day of worship in honor of Baal!” The proclamation was made, 21 and Jehu sent word throughout all the land of Israel. All who worshiped Baal came; not one of them failed to come. They all went into the temple of Baal, filling it from one end to the other. 22 Then Jehu ordered the priest in charge of the sacred robes to bring the robes out and give them to the worshipers. 23 After that, Jehu himself went into the temple with Jonadab son of Rechab and said to the people there, “Make sure that only worshipers of Baal are present and that no worshiper of the Lord has come in.” 24 Then he and Jonadab went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to Baal. He had stationed eighty men outside the temple and had instructed them: “You are to kill all these people; anyone who lets one of them escape will pay for it with his life!”
25 As soon as Jehu had presented the offerings, he said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them all; don't let anyone escape!” They went in with drawn swords, killed them all, and dragged the bodies outside. Then they went on into the inner sanctuary of the temple, 26 brought out the sacred pillar that was there, and burned it. 27 So they destroyed the sacred pillar and the temple, and turned the temple into a latrine—which it still is today.
28 That was how Jehu wiped out the worship of Baal in Israel. 29 But he imitated the sin of King Jeroboam, who led Israel into the sin of worshiping the gold bull-calves he set up in Bethel and in Dan. 30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done to Ahab's descendants everything I wanted you to do. So I promise you that your descendants, down to the fourth generation, will be kings of Israel.” 31 But Jehu did not obey with all his heart the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel; instead, he followed the example of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin.
The Death of Jehu
32 At that time the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria conquered all the Israelite territory 33 east of the Jordan, as far south as the town of Aroer on the Arnon River—this included the territories of Gilead and Bashan, where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh lived.
34 Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 35 He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. 36 Jehu had ruled in Samaria as king of Israel for twenty-eight years.