2 Kings 10:1-21 ▼

1 Ahab had threescore & ten sonnes in Samaria: And Iehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, vnto the rulers of Iezrahel, to the elders, and to them that brought vp Ahabs children, saying:

2 Nowe when this letter commeth to you (ye that haue with you your maisters sonnes, ye haue with you both charets and horses, a strong citie haue ye also, and harnesse)

3 Loke which of your maisters sonnes is best and most meete, and set him on his fathers seate, and fight for your lordes house.

4 But they were exceedingly afrayde, & sayde: See, two kinges were not able to stande before him: howe shall we then be able to stande?

5 And he that was gouernour of Ahabs house, & he that ruled the citie, the elders also, & the tutours, sent to Iehu, saying: We are thy seruauntes, & will do all that thou shalt byd vs, we wil make no man king: therefore do thou what seemeth good in thyne eyes.

6 Then he wrote another letter to them, saying: If ye be myne, and wil hearken vnto my voyce, then take the heades of the men that are your maisters sonnes, and come to me to Iezrahel by to morowe this time: (And the kinges sonnes were threescore and ten persons, and they were with the great men of the citie which brought them vp.)

7 And when the letter came to them, they toke the kinges children, and slue them, euen threescore and ten persons, & layed their heades in baskettes, and sent them to him to Iezrahel.

8 And there came a messenger, and told him, saying: They haue brought the heades of the kinges sonnes. And he said: Let them lay them on two heapes in the entring in of the gate, vntill the morning.

9 And when it was day, he went out, and stoode, and sayde to al the folke, Ye be righteous: Behold, I conspired against my maister, and slue him: But who slue all these?

10 Learne here that there shall fall vnto the earth nothing of the worde of the Lorde, whiche he spake concerning the house of Ahab: For the Lorde hath brought to passe ye thinges that he spake by the hande of his seruaunt Elias.

11 And so Iehu slue all that remayned of the house of Ahab in Iezrahel, and all that were great with him, and his kinsfolkes, and his priestes, so that he let nothing of him remayne.

12 And he arose, & departed, and came to Samaria: And when Iehu was in the way of the house where the sheepheardes dyd sheare their sheepe,

13 He met with the brethren of Ahaziahu king of Iuda, and sayde: What are ye? They aunswered: The brethren of Ahaziahu are we, and go downe to salute the children of the king & of the queene.

14 And he said: Take them alyue. Whom when they had taken them alyue, they slue them at the wel whiche was beside the house where the sheepe are shoren, euen two and fourtie men, neither left he any of them.

15 And when he was departed thence, he met with Iehonadab the sonne of Rechab comming against him, and he blessed him, & sayde to him: Is thyne heart right, as myne heart is true with thine? And Iehonadab aunswered: Yea that it is. Then geue me thyne hand. And when he had geuen him his hande, he toke him vp to him into the charet,

16 And sayde: Come with me, and see the zeale that I haue for the Lord. And so they made him ride in his charet.

17 And when he came to Samaria, he slue al that remained vnto Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped him out, accorcording to the saying of the Lord which he spake to Elias.

18 And Iehu gathered all the people together, and sayd vnto them: Ahab serued Baal a litle, but Iehu shall serue him more.

19 Now therfore call vnto me all the prophetes of Baal, all such as serue him, and al his priestes, & let none be lacking: For I haue a great sacrifice to do to Baal, & therefore whosoeuer is missed he shall not lyue. But Iehu dyd it for a sutteltie, to the intent that he might destroy the seruauntes of Baal.

20 And Iehu sayde: Proclayme an holy conuocation for Baal. And they proclaymed it.

21 And Iehu sent vnto all Israel, and al the seruauntes of Baal came, that there was not a man left behind that came not: And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from one ende to another.