Therefore they came back, and told him. And he said, This is the word of LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel,

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

Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up [the sons of] Ahab, saying,

And now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, also a fortified city, and armor,

look ye out for the best and fittest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings did not stand before him. How then shall we stand?

And he who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who brought up [the sons], sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shall bid us. We will not make any man king

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken to my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons,

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

And a messenger came, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him. But who smote all these?

So Jehu smote all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left to him none remaining.

And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way,

Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we go down to salute the sons of the king and the sons of the queen.

And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing-house, even forty-two men; neither did he leave any of them.

And when he was departed from there, he came upon on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he saluted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, g

And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.

And when he came to Samaria, he smote all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the word of LORD, which he spoke to Elijah.

And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much.

Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests. Let none be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal. Whoever shall be lacking, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlet

And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

And Jehu sent through all Israel. And all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.

And he said to him who was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought forth for them vestments.

And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal. And he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.

And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for him eighty men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, [he who lets him go], his life shall be for the life of h

And it came to pass, 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 none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword. And the

And they brought forth the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.

And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an out-house to this day.

However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu did not depart from after them, [namely], the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

And LORD said to Jehu, Because thou have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, [and] have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne o

In those days LORD began to cut off from Israel. And Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel,

from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

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?

And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

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

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, even him and his nurse, [and put them] in the bedchamber. And they hid him f

And he was with her hidden in the house of LORD six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of LORD. And he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house o

And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, who 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 Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard. So shall ye keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier.

And the two companies of you, even all who go forth on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of LORD around the king.

And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand. And he who comes within the ranks, let him be slain. And be ye with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in.

And the captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And every man took his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the pr

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

And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about.

Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] the testimony. And they made him king, and anointed him. And they clapped their hands, and said, Live, O king.

And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard [and of] the people, she came to the people into the house of LORD.

And she looked, and, behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, Tre

And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, Have her forth between the ranks, and kill with the sword the man who follows her. For the priest said, Let her not be slain i

So they made way for her. And she went by the way of the horses' entry to the king's house, and there was she slain.

And Jehoiada made a covenant between LORD and the king and the people, that they should be LORD's people; between the king also and the people.

And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down. They broke in pieces his altars and his images thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over

And he took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he

So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And they had slain Athaliah with the sword at the king's house.

Joash began to reign in the seventh year of Jehu. And he reigned forty years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

However the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

And Joash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of LORD, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that it come in any man's heart to

let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance, and they shall repair the broken parts of the house wherever any breach shall be found.

Then king Joash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the [other] priests, and said to them, Why do ye not repair the broken parts of the house? Now therefore take no [more] money from your acquaintance, but deliver it for the br

And the priests consented that they should take no [more] money from the people, neither repair the broken parts of the house.

But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as a man comes into the house of LORD. And the priests who kept the threshold put in it all the money that was

And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of LORD.

And they gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of LORD. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked upon the house of LORD,

and to the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the broken parts of the house of LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

But there were not made for the house of LORD cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of LORD,

for they gave that to those who did the work, and with it repaired the house of LORD.

Moreover they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work, for they dealt faithfully.

The money for the trespass-offerings, and the money for the sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of LORD; it was the priests'.

Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

And Joash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house o

Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

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

For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] seventeen years.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He did not depart from it.

And the anger of LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually.

And Jehoahaz besought LORD, and LORD hearkened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.

(And LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians, and the sons of Israel dwelt in their tents as beforetime.

Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked therein. And the Asherah also remained in Samaria.)

For he did not leave to Jehoahaz of the people except fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Joash his son reigned in his stead.

In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] sixteen years.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, but he walked therein.

Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

And Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen of it!

And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took to him bow and arrows.

And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand [upon it]. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands.

And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, LORD's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria, for thou shall smite the Syrians in Aphek till thou have con

And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stopped.

And the man of God was angry with him, and said, Thou should have smitten five or six times. Then thou would have smitten Syria till thou had consumed it, whereas now thou shall smite Syria but thrice.

And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band, and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha. And as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

But LORD was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither did he cast them from his presence as yet.

And Hazael king of Syria died, and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead.

And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz again took out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash smote him, and recovered the cities of Israel.