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¹ And Ahab has seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writes letters, and sends [them] to Samaria, to the heads of Jezreel, the elderly, and to those supporting Ahab, saying,² "And now, at the coming in of this letter to you, and sons of your lord [are] with you, and the chariots and the horses, and a fortified city, and the armor, [are] with you,³ that you have seen the best and the most upright of the sons of your lord, and have set [him] on the throne of his father, and fight for the house of your lord."⁴ And they fear very greatly, and say, "Behold, the two kings have not stood before him, and how do we stand—we?"⁵ And he who [is] over the house, and he who [is] over the city, and the elderly, and those supporting, send to Jehu, saying, "We [are] your servants, and all that you say to us we do; we do not make anyone king—do that which [is] good in your eyes."⁶ And he writes 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 sons of the king [are] seventy men, with the great ones of the city—those bringing them up.⁷ And it comes to pass, at the coming in of the letter to them, that they take the sons of the king, and slaughter seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and send [them] to him at Jezreel,⁸ and the messenger comes in, and declares [it] to him, saying, "They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king," and he says, "Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate until the morning."⁹ And it comes to pass in the morning, that he goes out, and stands, and says to all the people, "You are righteous; behold, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him—and who struck all these?¹⁰ Now you know that nothing falls of the word of YHWH to the earth that YHWH spoke against the house of Ahab, and YHWH has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah."¹¹ And Jehu strikes all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he has not left a remnant to him.¹² And he rises, and comes in and goes to Samaria; he [is] at the shepherds' shearing-house in the way,¹³ and Jehu has found the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah and says, "Who [are] you?" And they say, "We [are] brothers of Ahaziah, and we go down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the mistress."¹⁴ And he says, "Catch them alive"; and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty-two men, and he has not left [even one] man of them.

¹⁵ And he goes there, and finds Jehonadab son of Rechab to meet him, and blesses him, and says to him, "Is your heart right, as my heart [is] with your heart?" And Jehonadab says, "It is." "Then it is; give your hand"; and he gives his hand, and he causes him to come up into the chariot to him,¹⁶ and says, "Come with me, and look on my zeal for YHWH"; and they cause him to ride in his chariot.¹⁷ And he comes to Samaria, and strikes all those left to Ahab in Samaria, until his destroying him, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke to Elisha.¹⁸ And Jehu gathers the whole of the people and says to them, "Ahab served Ba‘al a little—Jehu serves him much:¹⁹ and now, all the prophets of Ba‘al, all his servants, and all his priests, call to me; do not let a man be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice for Ba‘al; everyone who is lacking—he does not live"; and Jehu has done [it] in subtlety, in order to destroy the servants of Ba‘al.²⁰ And Jehu says, "Sanctify a restraint for Ba‘al"; and they proclaim [it].²¹ And Jehu sends into all Israel, and all the servants of Ba‘al come in, and there has not been left a man who has not come in; and they come into the house of Ba‘al, and the house of Ba‘al is full—mouth to mouth.²² And he says to him who [is] over the wardrobe, "Bring out clothing for all those serving Ba‘al"; and he brings out the clothing to them.²³ And Jehu goes in—and Jehonadab son of Rechab—to the house of Ba‘al, and says to the servants of Ba‘al, "Search and see, lest there be [any] from the servants of YHWH here with you—but [only] the servants of Ba‘al by themselves."²⁴ And they come in to make sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and Jehu has set eighty men for himself in an out-place, and says, "The man who lets [any] of the men whom I am bringing into your hand escape—his soul for his soul."²⁵ And it comes to pass, at his finishing to make the burnt-offering, that Jehu says to the runners and to the captains, "Go in, strike them, let none come out"; and they strike them by the mouth of the sword, and the runners and the captains cast [them] out; and they go to the city, to the house of Ba‘al,²⁶ and bring out the standing-pillars of the house of Ba‘al, and burn them,²⁷ and break down the standing-pillar of Ba‘al, and break down the house of Ba‘al, and appoint it for a latrine to this day.²⁸ And Jehu destroys Ba‘al out of Israel,

²⁹ only [not]—the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he caused Israel to sin, Jehu has not turned aside from after them—the calves of gold that [are] at Beth-El and in Dan.³⁰ And YHWH says to Jehu, "Because that you have done well, to do that which [is] right in My eyes—according to all that [is] in My heart you have done to the house of Ahab—the sons of the fourth [generation] sit on the throne of Israel for you."³¹ And Jehu has not taken heed to walk in the Law of YHWH, God of Israel, with all his heart; he has not turned aside from the sins of Jeroboam that he caused Israel to sin.³² In those days YHWH has begun to cut off [some] in Israel, and Hazael strikes them in all the border of Israel,³³ from the Jordan, at the sun-rising: the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadite, and the Reubenite, and the Manassite (from Aroer, that [is] by the Brook of Arnon), 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 on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?³⁵ And Jehu lies with his fathers, and they bury him in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigns in his stead.³⁶ And the days that Jehu has reigned over Israel in Samaria [are] twenty-eight years.