1 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria unto the princes of Jezreel, to the elders, and to those that brought up Ahab’s children, saying, 2 Now as soon as this letter comes to you, unto those who have your master’s sons and who have chariots and horsemen and who have the arms and munitions of the city, 3 see which is the best and most upright 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 could not stand 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 those who had brought up the children sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy slaves and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king; thou shalt do that which is good in thy eyes. 6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye are mine and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take the heads of the male sons of your master and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy males, were with the great men of the city, who had brought them up. 7 And when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slew seventy males and put their heads in baskets and sent him them to Jezreel. 8 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. 9 And in the morning, he went out and stood and said to all the people, Ye are righteous; behold, I conspired against my master and slew him; but who slew all these? 10 Know now that of the word of the LORD which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, nothing shall fall to the ground, for the LORD has done that which he spoke by his slave Elijah. 11 So Jehu slew all that had remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and all his kinsfolk and all his priests until he left him none remaining.
12 And he arose and departed and came to Samaria. And as he was at a pastor’s 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 sons of the king and the sons of the queen. 14 So he said, Take them alive. And after they took them alive, they slew them at the well of the shearing house, forty-two men, without leaving any of them.
15 And when he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab; and after he saluted him, he said to him, Is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it is, give me thy 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 thou shalt see my zeal for the LORD. So they had him ride in his chariot. 17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that had remained of Ahab in Samaria, until he had completely destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD which he had spoken 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 no one be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whoever is lacking shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty to the intent that he might destroy those that served Baal. 20 And Jehu said, Sanctify 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 no one lacking that did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from one end to another. 22 And he said to the one that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all those that served Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. 23 And Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal and said unto the servants of Baal, Search and make sure that none of the slaves of the LORD are here with you, but only the servants of Baal.
24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu put eighty men outside and said, Whoever leaves alive any of the men whom I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for that of the other. 25 And after they had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to those of his guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none escape. And they smote them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the captains left them where they fell and went to the city of the house of Baal, 26 and they removed the images out of the house of Baal and burned them. 27 And they broke down the image of Baal and broke down the house of Baal and made it a latrine unto this day.
28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 29 However with all this, Jehu did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin with the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in my eyes and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. 31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; neither did he depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin.
32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short, and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel, 33 from the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, all the land of Gilead, of Gad, of Reuben, and of Manasses, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, to Gilead and to 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 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.