When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You know [very well] the man and his talk.”

They said, "That is a lie. Tell us now." He said, "He said to me, 'Thus says Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel.'"

But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”

Now, the watchman, was standing upon the tower, in Jezreel, so he saw the great company of Jehu, when he came, and said - A great company, can I see! Then said Jehoram - Take a horseman and send to meet them, that he may say - Is it peace?

Again the watchman reported, “He reached them but hasn’t started back. Also, the driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a madman.”

Jehoram ordered, "Hitch up my chariot." When his chariot had been hitched up, King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots to meet Jehu. They met up with him in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

It happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" He answered, "What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?"

Then Jehu {drew his bow} and shot Joram between his shoulders so that the arrow went out from his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;

"Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday," says the Lord, "and that I will give you what you deserve right here in this plot of land," says the Lord.' So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as the Lord said."

And when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him and said, Strike him also in the chariot, at the going up to Gur, that is near Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

It was in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab that Ahaziah had become king over Judah.

And he lifted up his eyes to the window and said, "Who is of my side? Who?" And there looked out to him two or three lords that were chamberlains.

So they went back and told him, and he said, “This fulfills the Lord’s word that He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, the dogs will eat Jezebel’s flesh.

and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, "This is Jezebel."'"

And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying,

Straight away, when you get this letter, seeing that your master's sons are with you, and that you have carriages and horses and a walled town and arms;

Therefore choose the best, and him that most pleaseth you of your master's sons, and put him on his father's seat, and fight for your lord's house."

So whoever was over the house, and whoever was over the city, and the elders and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, "We [are] your servants; all that you say to us, we shall do. We shall not make anyone a king. Do [what] is good in your eyes."

And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel.

It happened in the morning that he went out, stood, and said to all of the people, "You [are] righteous. Look, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all of these?

Know then that {the word of Yahweh will not fail} which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab; Yahweh has done what he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.

And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Then Jehu got up, left the city, and went to Samaria. When he arrived at the shearing house that was located on the way,

And he said, "Take them alive." And they took them alive, and slew them at the well beside the house where the shepherds bind their sheep, in number forty two persons; that he left none of them.

And when he was departed thence he met with Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming against him. And Jehu saluted him and said to him, "Is thine heart right, as mine heart is with thine?" And Jehonadab said, "Yea, that it is." "If it be, then give me thine hand." And he gave his hand, and the other took him up to him into the chariot,

And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah.

After that, Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little: but Jehu shall serve him a good.

And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal.

Jehu sent [word] through all of Israel, and all of the servants of Baal came; there did not remain a man who did not come. They came to the house of Baal so that the house of Baal was filled from {wall to wall}.

And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

Then Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Recab came [to] the temple of Baal, and he said to the servants of Baal, "Search and see that there is none of the servants of Yahweh here with you; only those who serve Baal."

And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him.

It happened that when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the royal guard and to the officers, "Come and kill them; let no man go free!" So {they put them to the sword}, and the royal guard and the officers threw them out, then they went up to the citadel of the temple of Baal.

They brought out the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.

They also cut down the pillar to Baal, tore apart Baal's temple, and turned it into a latrine and it remains that way today.

That's how Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel.

Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: from the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

Yahweh said to Jehu, "Because you have done well by doing right in my eyes and you have done to the house of Ahab according to all that [was] in my heart; [therefore,] sons of the fourth generation will sit for you on the throne of Israel."

Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

from the Jordan, at the sun-rising, the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadite, and the Reubenite, and the Manassahite (from Aroer, that is by the brook Arnon), even Gilead and Bashan.

Now the remainder of the acts of Jehu and all that he did and all of his powerful [deeds, are] they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

Now the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Now Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, so she prepared to destroy all of the offspring of the royal family.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and hid him and his nurse in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

And he commanded them saying, This is the thing which ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king's house;

And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down.

And the two parts of you, all those that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king.

And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.

So the commanders of hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and each took his men {who went off duty on the Sabbath} and those {who came on duty on the Sabbath}, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David's, which were in the house of Yahweh.

And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, slay with the sword; for the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of Jehovah.

And they laid hands on her, and she went the way that the horses of the kings went out and was slain there.

Then Jehoiada {made} a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that the people should be as a people for Yahweh, and [also a covenant] between the king and the people.

All the people of the land celebrated, for the city had rest now that they had killed Athaliah with the sword in the royal palace.

Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

except that the high places were not demolished, so the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.

Jehoash said to the priests, "All of the money for the sacred things that is brought to the temple of Yahweh, {the money taxed at its proper value for each person} [and] all of the money which comes upon the heart of a man to bring to the temple of Yahweh,

It happened in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash that the priests had not repaired the damage in the temple.

And the priests consented to receive no money of the people, and that they should only repair the breaches of the house.

And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Jehovah; and the priests that kept the door put into it all the money brought into the house of Jehovah.

It happened that when they saw a great deal of money in the chest, the secretary of the king and the high priest would come up, put the money in bags, then count the money found in the temple of Yahweh.

And they gave the money, weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, who were appointed over the house of Jehovah; and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders that wrought upon the house of Jehovah,

and to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, and for all that had to be laid out on the house for repairs.

However there were not made for the house of Jehovah basons of silver, knives, bowls, trumpets, nor any utensil of gold or utensil of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah;

For they gave that to all the workers, and they repaired the temple of Yahweh with it.

Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to give to them that did the work; for they dealt faithfully.

At that time, Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it; then Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.

Jehoash king of Judah took all of the holy objects that Jehoshaphat, Joram, and Ahaziah his ancestors, the kings of Judah, had devoted, and all his holy objects and all of the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of Yahweh, and [in] the palace of the king, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram, so that he went up from Jerusalem.

Now the remainder of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?

His servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, [on the way] that goes down to Silla.

Yea, Jozabar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, that he died, and he was buried with his fathers, in the city of David, - and, Amaziah his son, reigned in his stead.

He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he didn't depart from it.

Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.

And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.

but they didn’t turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. Jehoahaz walked in them, and the Asherah pole also remained standing in Samaria.

Now the remainder of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did and his powerful [deeds, are] they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he didn't depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein.

The remainder of the acts of Joash and all that he did, his powerful [deeds], and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

When Elisha became sick with the illness that he died from, Jehoash king of Israel went down and wept over him and said, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

and ordered him, "Open a window that faces east." So he did so. Elisha ordered him, "Shoot!" So he shot. Then Elisha said, "This is the LORD's arrow of victory the victory arrow against Aram, because you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you will have utterly finished them off."

Later, Elisha died and was buried. Now at that time, various Moabite marauders had been invading the land each spring.

And it happened that they [were] burying a man; suddenly they saw the marauding band, so they threw the man in the grave of Elisha. [As he] went [in], the man touched the bones of Elisha, and became alive and got up on his feet!

And Jehovah was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he would not destroy them, neither did he cast them from his presence up to that time.

Jehoahaz's son Jehoash took back from Ben Hadad son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Joash defeated him three times and recovered the Israelite cities.

And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, yet not like David his father: he did according to all that Joash his father had done.

except that the high places were not abolished. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on the high places.

It happened that when the kingdom was firmly in his hand, he killed his servants who had killed his father the king.

But the children of those that smote him he did not put to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein Jehovah commanded saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

After that, Amaziah sent messengers to Joash the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us see each other."

And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thorn-bush that is in Lebanon sent to the cedar that is in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son as wife; and there passed by the wild beast that is in Lebanon, and trode down the thorn-bush.

You have indeed defeated Edom and your heart is lifted up; enjoy the honor and stay home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?"

But Amaziah would not listen, so King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah faced off at Beth-shemesh that belongs to Judah.

And Judah was overcome before Israel, so that they went in flight, every man to his tent.

And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

The rest of Jehoash's activities that he undertook, including his valor in fighting King Amaziah of Judah, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not?

It was he that built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh: he didn't depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin.

He rebuilt Israel's coastline from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the message from the LORD God of Israel that he spoke through his servant Jonah the prophet, Amittai's son, who was from Gath-hepher.

For Yahweh saw that the misery of Israel was very bitter, whether bond or free, but there was no helper for Israel.