102 Kings 10

Jehu Kills All of Ahab's Descendants

1Ahab still had 70 descendants living in Samaria. So Jehu wrote a letter to each of the important leaders and officials of the town, and to those who supported Ahab. In the letters he wrote:Select 2 Kings 10:1

2Your town is strong, and you're protected by chariots and an armed cavalry. And I know that King Ahab's descendants live there with you. So as soon as you read this letter,Select 2 Kings 10:2

3choose the best person for the job and make him the next king. Then be prepared to defend Ahab's family.Select 2 Kings 10:3

4The officials and leaders read the letters and were very frightened. They said to each other, “Jehu has already killed King Joram and King Ahaziah! We have to do what he says.”Select 2 Kings 10:4

5The prime minister, the mayor of the city, as well as the other leaders and Ahab's supporters, sent this answer to Jehu, “We are your servants, Your Majesty, and we will do whatever you tell us. But it's not our place to choose someone to be king. You do what you think is best.”Select 2 Kings 10:5

6Jehu then wrote another letter which said, “If you are on my side and will obey me, then prove it. Bring me the heads of the descendants of Ahab! And be here in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” The 70 descendants of King Ahab were living with some of the most important people of the city.Select 2 Kings 10:6

7And when these people read Jehu's second letter, they called together all 70 of Ahab's descendants. They killed them, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jezreel.Select 2 Kings 10:7

8When Jehu was told what had happened, he said, “Put the heads in two piles at the city gate, and leave them there until morning.”Select 2 Kings 10:8

9The next morning, Jehu went out and stood where everyone could hear him, and he said, “You people are not guilty of anything. I'm the one who plotted against Joram and had him killed. But who killed all these men?Select 2 Kings 10:9

10Listen to me. Everything the Lord's servant Elijah promised about Ahab's family will come true.”Select 2 Kings 10:10

11Then Jehu killed the rest of Ahab's relatives living in Jezreel, as well as his highest officials, his priests, and his closest friends. No one in Ahab's family was left alive in Jezreel.Select 2 Kings 10:11

13Jehu left for Samaria, and along the way, he met some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah at a place where shepherds meet. He asked, “Who are you?” “We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered. “We're going to visit his family.”Select 2 Kings 10:13

14“Take them alive!” Jehu said to his officers. So they grabbed them and led them to the well near the shepherds' meeting place, where they killed all 42 of them.Select 2 Kings 10:14

15As Jehu went on, he saw Jehonadab son of Rechab coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him, then said, “Jehonadab, I'm on your side. Are you on mine?” “Yes, I am.” “Then give me your hand,” Jehu answered. He helped Jehonadab into his chariotSelect 2 Kings 10:15

16and said, “Come with me and see how faithful I am to the Lord.” They rode together in Jehu's chariotSelect 2 Kings 10:16

17to Samaria. Jehu killed everyone there who belonged to Ahab's family, as well as all his officials. Everyone in his family was now dead, just as the Lord had promised Elijah.Select 2 Kings 10:17

Jehu Kills All the Worshipers of Baal

18Jehu called together the people in Samaria and said: King Ahab sometimes worshiped Baal, but I will be completely faithful to Baal.Select 2 Kings 10:18

19I'm going to offer a huge sacrifice to him. So invite his prophets and priests, and be sure everyone who worships him is there. Anyone who doesn't come will be killed. But this was a trick—Jehu was really planning to kill the worshipers of Baal.Select 2 Kings 10:19

20He said, “Announce a day of worship for Baal!” After the day had been announced,Select 2 Kings 10:20

21Jehu sent an invitation to everyone in Israel. All the worshipers of Baal came, and the temple was filled from one end to the other.Select 2 Kings 10:21

22Jehu told the official in charge of the sacred robes to make sure that everyone had a robe to wear.Select 2 Kings 10:22

23Jehu and Jehonadab went into the temple, and Jehu said to the crowd, “Look around and make sure that only the worshipers of Baal are here. No one who worships the Lord is allowed in.”Select 2 Kings 10:23

24Then they began to offer sacrifices to Baal. Earlier, Jehu had ordered 80 soldiers to wait outside the temple. He had warned them, “I will get all these worshipers here, and if any of you let even one of them escape, you will be killed instead!”Select 2 Kings 10:24

25As soon as Jehu finished offering the sacrifice, he told the guards and soldiers, “Come in and kill them! Don't let anyone escape.” They slaughtered everyone in the crowd and threw the bodies outside. Then they went back into the templeSelect 2 Kings 10:25

26and carried out the image of Baal. They burned itSelect 2 Kings 10:26

27and broke it into pieces, then they completely destroyed Baal's temple. And since that time, it's been nothing but a public toilet.Select 2 Kings 10:27

28That's how Jehu stopped the worship of Baal in Israel.Select 2 Kings 10:28

29But he did not stop the worship of the gold statues of calves at Dan and Bethel that Jeroboam had made for the people to worship.Select 2 Kings 10:29

30Later the Lord said, “Jehu, you have done right by destroying Ahab's entire family, just as I had planned. So I will make sure that the next four kings of Israel will come from your own family.”Select 2 Kings 10:30

31But Jehu did not completely obey the commands of the Lord God of Israel. Instead, he kept doing the sinful things that Jeroboam had caused the Israelites to do.Select 2 Kings 10:31

Jehu Dies

32In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria defeated the Israelites and took controlSelect 2 Kings 10:32

33of the regions of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan River and north of the town of Aroer near the Arnon River. This was the land where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh had once lived.Select 2 Kings 10:33

34Everything else Jehu did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.Select 2 Kings 10:34

35Jehu died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz became king.Select 2 Kings 10:35

36Jehu had ruled Israel 28 years from Samaria.Select 2 Kings 10:36