II Kings 10 · מלכים ב

And Aĥ᾽av had seventy sons in Shomeron. And Yehu wrote letters, and sent to Shomeron, to the rulers of Yizre῾el, to the elders, and to those who brought up Aĥ᾽av’s children, saying,

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, a fortified city also, and armour;

select then 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, two kings could not stand before him: how then shall we stand?

And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the guardians, sent to Yehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make anyone king: do thou that which is good in thy eyes.

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you are mine, and if you will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Yizre῾el by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the notables of the city, who brought them up.

And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Yizre῾el.

And there came a messenger, 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 the morning.

And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, You are just men: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Aĥ᾽av: for the Lord has done that which he spoke by his servant Eliyyahu.

So Yehu slew all that remained of the house of Aĥ᾽av in Yizre῾el, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

And he arose and departed, and came to Shomeron. And as he was at the shepherds’ meeting house in the way,

Yehu met with the brothers of Aĥazyahu king of Yehuda, and said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the brothers of Aĥazyahu: and we are going down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.

And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the meeting house, forty two men; neither left he any of them.

And when he was departed from there, he came across Yehonadav the son of Rekhav coming to meet him: and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Yehonadav answered, It is. If it be, said Yehu, give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

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

And when he came to Shomeron, he slew all that remained to Aĥ᾽av in Shomeron, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke to Eliyyahu.

And Yehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Aĥ᾽av served the Ba῾al a little; but Yehu shall serve him much.

Now therefore call to me all the prophets of the Ba῾al, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to the Ba῾al; whoever shall be missing, he shall not live. But Yehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of the Ba῾al.

And Yehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for the Ba῾al. And they proclaimed the day.

And Yehu sent through all Yisra᾽el: and all the worshippers of the Ba῾al came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came to the house of the Ba῾al; and the house of the Ba῾al was full from one end to another.

And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth garments for all the worshippers of the Ba῾al. And he brought out garments for them.

And Yehu went, and Yehonadav the son of Rekhav, into the house of the Ba῾al, and said to the worshippers of the Ba῾al, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of the Ba῾al only.

And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Yehu appointed eighty men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, his life shall be for the life of him.

And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Yehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come out. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of the Ba῾al.

And they brought out the pillars of the house of the Ba῾al, and burned them.

And they pulled down the pillar of the Ba῾al, and pulled down the house of the Ba῾al, and made it a latrine unto this day.

Thus Yehu destroyed the Ba῾al out of Yisra᾽el.

Nevertheless, from the sins of Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, who made Yisra᾽el to sin, Yehu departed not from after them, namely, the golden calves that were in Bet-el, and that were in Dan.

And the Lord said to Yehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and hast done to the house of Aĥ᾽av according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Yisra᾽el.

But Yehu took no heed to walk in the Tora of the Lord God of Yisra᾽el with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Yorov῾am, who made Yisra᾽el to sin.

In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Yisra᾽el: and Ḥaza᾽el smote them in all the borders of Yisra᾽el,

from the Yarden eastwards, all the land of the Gil῾ad, the Gadi, and the Re᾽uveni and the Menashshi, from ῾Aro῾er, which is by the wadi Arnon, and the Gil῾ad and the Bashan.

Now the rest of the acts of Yehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra᾽el?

And Yehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Shomeron. And Yeho᾽aĥaz his son reigned in his stead.

And the time that Yehu reigned over Yisra᾽el in Shomeron was twenty eight years.