Historical
Jehu Avenges Naboth
9 Then Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and told him, “Strap up your cloak, take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 When you arrive there, look out there for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. Then go in, get him to rise up from among his fellows, and bring him to an inner room. 3 Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, thus says Adonai: ‘I have anointed you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee—don’t wait around.”
4 So the young man, a young prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 Now when he arrived, behold, the army commanders were sitting. So he said, “I have a word for you, commander.”
Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”
He replied, “For you, commander.” 6 Then he rose and went inside the house, and the prophet poured the oil on his head and said to him, “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: I have anointed you king over the people of Adonai, over Israel. 7 So you will strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Adonai shed by Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, slave or free, in Israel. 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasa son of Ahijah. 10 The dogs will eat Jezebel in the field of Jezreel, and there will be none to bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled.
11 Then Jehu came out to the officers of his master, and one asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this crazy fellow come to you?”
He said to them, “You know the man and his babbling.”
12 But they said, “It’s a lie! Tell us now.”
So he said, “He said something like this to me, saying ‘Thus says Adonai, I have anointed you king over Israel.’”
13 Then they hurried and every man took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and blew the shofar, saying, “Jehu is king!”
14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Now Joram had been defending Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, against King Hazael of Aram. 15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him, when he fought with King Hazael of Aram. Then Jehu said, “If this is your wish, then let no one escape and go out of the city to go to tell the news in Jezreel.”
16 So Jehu mounted a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there. Meanwhile, King Ahaziah of Judah came down to see Joram. 17 Now the watchman stationed on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troop approaching and said, “I am seeing a troop.”
Then Joram said, “Take a horseman and dispatch him to meet them, and let him ask: ‘Is it peace?’” 18 So the horse rider went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’” But Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn behind me.”
So the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but didn’t come back.” 19 Then he dispatched out another horseman, who went to them and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’” But Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn behind me.”
20 So the watchman reported, saying, “He reached them, but didn’t come back—and the driving is like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, for he is driving on like a maniac!”
21 Then Joram ordered, “Hitch up the chariot!” So he hitched up his chariot. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out each in his chariot to meet Jehu, and found him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 Now when Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
So he answered, “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?”
23 So Joram turned his horses around and fled, crying out to Ahaziah, “Treason, Ahaziah!”
24 But Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his arms, and the arrow went out through his heart, and he collapsed in his chariot. 25 Then he said to Bidkar his aide, “Pick him up and throw him on the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together behind Ahab his father, when Adonai took up this burden against him: 26 ‘As surely as I have seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday—it is a declaration of Adonai—I will repay you on this property—it is a declaration of Adonai.’ So now pick him up and throw him onto the property, just as in the word of Adonai.”
27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. But Jehu pursued him, and said, “Shoot him too!” They shot him in the chariot at Gur Pass near Ibleam. Then he fled to Megiddo, but he died there. 28 Then his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. 29 (Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab.)
30 Now when Jehu arrived at Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. So she painted her eyes and dressed her hair, and looked out the window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, Zimri, your master’s assassin?” 32 Then he lifted up his face to the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down toward him. 33 Then he said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down—then her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled her.
34 Then he went inside, ate and drank. Then he said, “Attend now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” 35 But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 So they came back and told him. He said, “This is the word of Adonai, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying: ‘In the field of Jezreel will the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37 and the carcass of Jezebel will be as dung upon the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so that they will not say, “This was Jezebel.” ’”
Jehu Destroys Ahab’s Sons and Baal Worshippers
10 Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab’s sons, saying: 2 “Now as soon as this letter reaches you—since your master’s sons are with you, and you also have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons— 3 choose the best and the most worthy of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”
4 But they were very terrified and said, “Look, two kings couldn’t stand before him, how then can we?” 5 So the steward of the palace, the governor of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent word to Jehu saying, “We are your servants, and will do whatever you tell us to. We won’t make any man king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.”
6 Then he wrote a second letter to them saying, “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel at this time tomorrow.”
Now the king’s sons, 70 people, were with the city’s prominent men. 7 When it came to pass that the letter reached them, they took the king’s 70 sons and slaughtered them, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8 When a messenger came and told him saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”
9 It came to pass in the morning that he went out and stood and addressed all the people, “You are innocent. Behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck down all these? 10 Know then that not a word of Adonai will fall to the earth—which Adonai spoke about the house of Ahab—for Adonai has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel—all his nobles, his acquaintances, his priests—until he left him not a survivor.
12 Then he arose and went on his way to Samaria. As he was at Shearing House[a] of the Shepherds along the way, 13 Jehu met with the kinsmen of King Ahaziah of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”
“We are the kinsmen of Ahaziah,” they replied, “We’ve come down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen mother.”
14 “Take them alive!” he said. So they took them alive, then struck them down at the pit of Shearing House, 42 men—he spared not a single one of them.
15 Now when he left from there, he met Jehonadab son of Rechab coming to meet him. So he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right as my heart is with your heart?”
“It is,” Jehonadab replied.
“If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for Adonai.” So he let him ride in his chariot.
17 When he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained from Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Adonai spoken to Elijah.
18 Then Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much! 19 Now therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests, let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal—whoever is missing will not live.” But Jehu did it in cunning, in order to destroy the worshippers of Baal.
20 Then Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 Then Jehu sent throughout Israel and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. When they went into the temple of Baal, the temple of Baal was filled from one end to another.
22 Then he said to the one over the wardrobe, “Bring out vestments for all the worshippers of Baal.” So he brought out vestments for them. 23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab went into the temple of Baal, and he said to the worshippers of Baal, “Search and look that there is here with you none of the servants of Adonai—only servants of Baal.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Now Jehu had already stationed 80 of his men outside and said, “If any of the men whom I am bringing into your hands escapes, your life will be for his life.” 25 Then it came to pass, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in, strike them down—let none get out.” So they struck them down with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the captains threw them out. Then they proceeded to the inner room of the temple of Baal, 26 brought out the pillars of the temple of Baal, and burned them. 27 Then they demolished the pillar of Baal, tore down the temple of Baal and turned it into latrines—as it is to this day.
28 Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel. 29 However, from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to commit, from these Jehu did not turn away—the golden calves in Bethel and in Dan. 30 Now Adonai had said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel.”
31 Yet Jehu was not careful to walk in the Torah of Adonai, God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he caused Israel to commit. 32 In those days Adonai began to reduce the size of Israel. For Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel, 33 from the Jordan eastward in all the land of Gilead—the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites—from Aroer by the Arnon Valley up to Gilead and 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 Then Jehu slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz became king in his place. 36 The days of Jehu’s reign over Israel in Samaria were 28 years.
Wicked Queen Athaliah Overthrown
11 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring. 2 But Jehosheba, daughter of King Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death. She put him and his nurse in the bedroom, so he was hidden from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. 3 He remained with her, hidden in the House of Adonai for six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the country.
4 Now in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains of the hundreds, of both the Carites and the guards, and had them come to him in the House of Adonai. After he cut a covenant with them and put them under oath in the House of Adonai, he showed them the king’s son. 5 Then he commanded them saying, “This is what you will do: one-third of you—those going on duty on Shabbat—keeps watch over the palace. 6 Then another third will be stationed at the Sur Gate and the last third will be at the gate behind the guards—so you will keep watch over the house on every side. 7 Your other two divisions, who are off duty on Shabbat, will also keep watch over the House of Adonai for the king. 8 So you are to surround the king on every side—every man with his weapons in his hand—whoever breaks through the ranks must be put to death. You must be with the king in his comings and goings.”
9 So the captains of hundreds did all that Jehoiada the kohen commanded. Each of the captains took his men—those who were on duty on Shabbat and those who were off duty on Shabbat—and presented themselves to Jehoiada the kohen. 10 The kohen delivered to the captains of hundreds the spear and shields that belonged to King David that were in the House of Adonai. 11 So the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the House to the left side of the House, by the altar and the House, around the king on every side.
12 Then he brought out the king’s son and put the crown and the insignia on him, and so they proclaimed him king and anointed him. Then they clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”
13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guards and the people, she came to the people in the House of Adonai. 14 She looked and behold, the king was standing by the pillar, as was the custom, with the captains and the trumpets beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason, treason!”
15 Then Jehoiada the kohen ordered the captains of hundreds, appointed over the army, and said to them, “Bring her out between the ranks—whoever follows her, put him to death with the sword.” For the kohen said, “Let her not be put to death in the House of Adonai.”
16 So they laid hands on her, and brought her to the horses’ entry of the royal palace, where she was put to death.
17 Then Jehoiada cut a covenant between Adonai and the king and the people—that they would be Adonai’s people—and also between the king and the people. 18 Next, all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They broke his altars and his images into pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. Moreover, the kohen appointed officers over the House of Adonai. 19 Then he took the captains over hundreds, the Carites, the guard, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the House of Adonai, and came by the way of the gate of the guards to the royal palace. So he sat on the royal throne. 20 Then all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet—they had already slain Athaliah with the sword in the royal palace.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.