Ahab’s Seventy Sons Killed

10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of ^[a]Jezreel, to the elders, and to ^[b]those who reared Ahab’s sons, saying:

⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Look, ^(A)two kings could not ^[d]stand up to him; how then can we stand?” ⁵ And he who was in charge of the house, and he who was in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, we will do all you tell us; but we will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your sight.” ⁶ Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying:

Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. ⁷ So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and ^(B)slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

⁸ Then 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 morning.”

⁹ So it was, in the morning, that he went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Indeed ^(C)I conspired against my master and killed him; but who killed all these? ¹⁰ Know now that nothing shall ^(D)fall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord has done what He spoke ^(E)by His servant Elijah.” ¹¹ So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Ahaziah’s Forty-two Brothers Killed

¹² And he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way, at ^[e]Beth Eked of the Shepherds, ^13 (F)Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?”

So they answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah; we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.”

¹⁴ And he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them alive, and ^(G)killed them at the well of ^[f]Beth Eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.

The Rest of Ahab’s Family Killed

¹⁵ Now when he departed from there, he ^[g]met ^(H)Jehonadab the son of ^(I)Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?”

And Jehonadab answered, “It is.”

Jehu said, “If it is, ^(J)give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. ¹⁶ Then he said, “Come with me, and see my ^(K)zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. ¹⁷ And when he came to Samaria, ^(L)he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord ^(M)which He spoke to Elijah.

Worshipers of Baal Killed

¹⁸ Then Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, ^(N)“Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹ Now therefore, call to me all the ^(O)prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu acted deceptively, with the intent of destroying the worshipers of Baal. ²⁰ And Jehu said, ^[h]“Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. ²¹ Then Jehu sent throughout all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. So they came into the ^[i]temple of Baal, and the ^(P)temple of Baal was full from one end to the other. ²² And he said to the one in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out vestments for them. ²³ Then Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went into the temple of Baal, and said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search and see that no servants of the Lord are here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” ²⁴ So they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for himself eighty men on the outside, and had said, “If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escapes, whoever lets him escape, it shall be ^(Q)his life for the life of the other.”

²⁵ Now it happened, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in and kill them; let no one come out!” And they killed them with the edge of the sword; then the guards and the officers threw them out, and went into the ^[j]inner room of the temple of Baal. ²⁶ And they brought the ^(R)sacred pillars out of the temple of Baal and burned them. ²⁷ Then they broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the ^[k]temple of Baal and ^(S)made it a refuse dump to this day. ²⁸ Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel.

²⁹ However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from ^(T)the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. ³⁰ And the Lord ^(U)said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, ^(V)your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” ³¹ But Jehu ^[l]took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from ^(W)the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.

Death of Jehu

³² In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel; and ^(X)Hazael conquered them in all the territory of Israel ³³ from the Jordan eastward: all the land of Gilead—Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh—from ^(Y)Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, including ^(Z)Gilead and Bashan.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ³⁵ So Jehu ^[m]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then ^(AA)Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. ³⁶ And the period that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(A)

22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^(B)Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the ^(C)Arabians into the camp had killed all the ^(D)older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. ² Ahaziah was ^[a]forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(E)Athaliah the ^[b]granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. ⁴ Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. ⁵ He also followed their advice, and went with ^[c]Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ^6 (F)Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And ^[d]Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ His going to Joram ^(G)was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s ^[e]downfall; for when he arrived, ^(H)he went out with ^[f]Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(I)whom the Lord had anointed to ^[g]cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸ And it happened, when Jehu was ^(J)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and ^(K)found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. ^9 (L)Then he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of ^(M)Jehoshaphat, who ^(N)sought the Lord with all his heart.”

So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah^(O)

^10 (P)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But ^[h]Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took ^(Q)Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. ¹² And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Crowned King of Judah^(R)

23 In ^(S)the seventh year ^(T)Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of ^(U)Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. ² And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the ^(V)chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³ Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has ^(W)said of the sons of David. ⁴ This is what you shall do: One-third of you ^(X)entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors; ⁵ one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and ^(Y)those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. ⁷ And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed ^(Z)the divisions. ⁹ And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small ^(AA)shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. ¹⁰ Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. ¹¹ And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, ^(AB)gave him the ^[i]Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!”

Death of Athaliah^(AC)

¹² Now when ^(AD)Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. ¹³ When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and ^(AE)those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, ^(AF)“Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”

¹⁵ So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance ^(AG)of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made a ^(AH)covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ And all the people went to the ^[j]temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and ^(AI)killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸ Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the Lord to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had ^(AJ)assigned in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the ^(AK)Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David. ¹⁹ And he set the ^(AL)gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter.

^20 (AM)Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom. ²¹ So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

Treatment of Church Members

5 Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

Honor True Widows

³ Honor widows who are really widows. ⁴ But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and ^(A)to repay their parents; for this is ^[a]good and acceptable before God. ⁵ Now she who is really a widow, and left alone, trusts in God and continues in supplications and prayers ^(B)night and day. ⁶ But she who lives in ^[b]pleasure is dead while she lives. ⁷ And these things command, that they may be blameless. ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own, ^(C)and especially for those of his household, ^(D)he has denied the faith ^(E)and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, ¹⁰ well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

¹¹ But ^[c]refuse the younger widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, ¹² having condemnation because they have cast off their first ^[d]faith. ¹³ And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. ¹⁴ Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. ¹⁵ For some have already turned aside after Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing ^[e]man or woman has widows, let them ^[f]relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.

Honor the Elders

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, ^(F)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, ^(G)“The laborer is worthy of his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not receive an accusation against an elder except ^(H)from two or three witnesses. ²⁰ Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

²¹ I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the ^[g]elect angels that you observe these things without ^(I)prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. ²² Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor ^(J)share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.

²³ No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent ^[h]infirmities.

²⁴ Some men’s sins are ^(K)clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. ²⁵ Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.