2 Kings 10 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Chapter 10

The Killing of Ahab’s Descendants. ¹ Now there were seventy sons of Ahab in Samaria, so Jehu wrote letters that he sent to Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and the guardians of Ahab’s children, saying,^{[a] 2} “As soon as you receive this letter, for your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses and a fortified city and armor, ³ choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him upon his father’s throne, and fight for your master.”

⁴ They were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, then how could we resist him?” ⁵ The major-domo of the palace who was in charge of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do whatever you tell us. We will not appoint anyone as king; we will do as you see fit.”

⁶ He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are with me and willing to obey me, then take off the heads^[b] of these men, the sons of Ahab, and bring them to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”

There were seventy sons of the king who were being raised by the leading citizens of the city. ⁷ When they received the letter, they slew the king’s sons, seventy of them, and they put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jezreel.

⁸ When the messenger arrived, he told him, “We have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” He said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance to the gates until the morning.”

⁹ The next morning, he went out and stood before all the people and said to them, “You are innocent! I plotted against my master and killed him, but who killed all of these? ¹⁰ Know then that not a word of the Lord which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab will fall to the ground. The Lord has fulfilled what he said through his servant Elijah.”

¹¹ So Jehu killed all of those who remained from the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his chief men, all of his relatives, and all of his priests, so that none of them were left alive.

¹² Ahaziah’s Kinsmen. He then rose up and left and went to Samaria. On the way, at Beth-eked of the shepherds, ¹³ Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah. He said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.” ¹⁴ He said, “Take them alive!” They took them alive and they slew them at the well of Beth-eked, forty-two of them. He did not leave any of them alive.

¹⁵ When he left there, he encountered Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, who came out to meet him. He greeted him and said, “Is your heart right? Is your heart with my heart?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” He said, “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand, and he took him up into his chariot. ¹⁶ He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷ When he arrived in Samaria, he killed all of those who were left of Ahab in Samaria until he had wiped them out, fulfilling what the Lord had said when he spoke through Elijah.

¹⁸ Baal’s Temple Destroyed. Jehu then gathered together all of the people and said to them, “Ahab only served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. ¹⁹ Summon all of the prophets of Baal to me, all of his servants, and all of his priests. Let no one be missing, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” Jehu did this as a trick so that he might put to death those who worshiped Baal. ²⁰ Jehu said, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it.

²¹ Jehu sent throughout all of Israel, and all of the worshipers of Baal came. There was not a single one of them who did not come. The temple of Baal was full from one end to the other. ²² He said to the person who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring forth the vestments for all of the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought forth vestments for them.^[c]

²³ Then Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went to the temple of Baal. He said to the worshipers of Baal, “Look around and see that there are no servants of the Lord here, only worshipers of Baal.” ²⁴ They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Jehu posted eighty men and said, “If any of the men whom I have placed in your hands escapes, it will be your life for his life.” ²⁵ As soon as he had finished offering up the burnt offerings, Jehu said to the guards and the captains, “Go in and slay them. Let no one escape.” They put them to the sword. The guards and the captains then cast them out, and they entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. ²⁶ They brought the sacred pillars out from the temple of Baal and they burned them. ²⁷ They smashed the idol of Baal, and they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a refuse dump, which it is up to the present. ²⁸ Thus, Jehu destroyed Baal throughout Israel.

²⁹ Death of Jehu. However, Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, that is, following the golden calves in Bethel and Dan.

³⁰ The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done what was right in my sight, doing everything that was in my heart to the house of Ahab, your sons to the fourth generation will sit upon the throne of Israel.”

³¹ But Jehu did not take heed to walk in the ways of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart, nor did he turn away from the sins of Jeroboam who caused Israel to sin. ³² Therefore, the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel, and Hazael conquered them throughout all of the territory of Israel ³³ to the east of the Jordan: all of the land of Gilead, that is, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer which is near the Arnon River, including Gilead and Bashan.

³⁴ Now the rest of the deeds of Jehu, and all that he did, and his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

³⁵ Jehu slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz, his son, then reigned in his stead. ³⁶ Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria for a period of twenty-eight years.

Footnotes

1. 2 Kings 10:1 The number seventy signifies the totality of Ahab’s sons (Gen 46:27; Jdg 8:30). In addition, “son” has a broad meaning in Hebrew and may therefore signify all the kinsmen with a right of succession.
2. 2 Kings 10:6 Heads: a deliberately ambiguous word (it can mean “heads” in the literal sense, or “principal ones”), so that Jehu can say he had not given the order to kill (v. 9).
3. 2 Kings 10:22 They changed their clothing as a preliminary purification for offering worship (see also Gen 35:2; Ex 19:10).