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¹ And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the supporters of Ahab, saying,² And now when this letter comes to you, and you have with you the sons of your lord, and chariots and horses are with you, and a fortified city, and armor;³ and you shall look out the best and the most upright of the sons of your lord, and you shall set him on the throne of his father. And you shall fight for the house of your lord.⁴ And they were greatly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings have not stood before him, and how shall we stand?⁵ And he who was over the house, and he over the city, and the elders, and the supporters, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and all that you say to us we will do. We will notmake anyone king. Do what is good in youreyes.⁶ And he wrote a letter to them a second time, saying, If you are for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men, the sons of your lord, and come to me about this time tomorrow,to Jezreel. And the king's sons, seventypersons, were with the great men of the city, who reared them.⁷ And it happened, when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and killed them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent to him in Jezreel.⁸ And the messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Make them two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.⁹ And it happened in the morning, he went out and stood, and said to all the people, You are righteous. Behold, I have conspired against my lord, and have killed him. But who struck all these?¹⁰ Then know that nothing of the Word of Jehovah shall fall to the earth, that which Jehovah spoke against the house of Ahab. For Jehovah has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.¹¹ And Jehu killed all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and his great men, and his friends, and his priests, until he did not leave a survivor to him.¹² And he rose up and came in, and went to Samaria. He was at the shepherds' shearing house in the way.¹³ And Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to ask the welfare of the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.¹⁴ And he said, Capture them alive! And they captured them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, forty men. And he did not leave a man of them.

¹⁵ And he left there and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is withyour heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. If itis, give your hand. And he gave his hand, and he made him come up to him into the chariot.¹⁶ And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for Jehovah. And they made him ride in the chariot.¹⁷ And he came to Samaria and killed all those left of Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke to Elijah.¹⁸ And Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu shall serve him much.¹⁹ And now call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Do not let a man be lacking, for I shall have a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who is lacking, he shall not live. And Jehu was acting with cunning in orderto destroy the servants of Baal.²⁰ And Jehu said, Separate an assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it .²¹ And Jehu sent to all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came in. And there was not a man left who did not come in. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from mouth to mouth.²² And he said to the one over the wardrobe, Bring out garments to all the servants of Baal. And he brought out the garments to them.²³ And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went in to the house of Baal and said to the servants of Baal, Search and see that there are none of the servants of Jehovah here with you; but only the servants of Baal.²⁴ And they came in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. And Jehu had set for himself eighty men on the outside. And he said, The man who lets any of the men escape whom I am bringing into your hands, his life for the life of him.²⁵ And it happened, when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the runners and the third officers, Go in, strike them. Do not let any man come out. And they struck them by the edge of the sword. And the runners and the thirdofficers threw them out. And they went into the city to the house of Baal,²⁶ and brought out the pillars of the house of Baal and burned them.²⁷ And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an outhouse to this day.²⁸ And Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

²⁹ Only, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, Jehu did not turn from following them, the calves of gold at Bethel, and in Dan.³⁰ And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because you have done well, to do the right in my eyes, and you have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, the sons of the fourth generation shall sit for you on the throneof Israel.³¹ And Jehu did not take heed to walk in the Law of Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin.³² In those days Jehovah began to cut off in Israel, and Hazael struck them in all the border of Israel,³³ from the Jordan eastward, the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.³⁴ And the rest of the matters of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?³⁵ And Jehu lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.³⁶ And the days that Jehu reigned over Israel were twenty eight years, in Samaria.