2 Kings 10:9-30

⁹In the morning Jehu went out to speak to the people who had gathered. “You haven't done anything wrong,” he told them. “I was the one who plotted against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

¹⁰Rest assured that nothing of what the Lord has prophesied against the house of Ahab will fail, for the Lord has done what he promised through his servant Elijah.”

¹¹So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who was left of the house of Ahab, as well as all his high officials, close friends, and priests. This left Ahab without a single survivor.

¹²Then Jehu left and went Samaria. At Beth-eked of the Shepherds,

¹³he met some relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah. “Who are you?” he asked them. “We're relatives of Ahaziah,” they replied. “We've come to visit the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”

¹⁴“Take them alive!” Jehu ordered. So they took them alive, then killed them at the well of Beth-eked. There were forty-two men. He didn't allow any of them to live.

¹⁵He left there and came across Jehonadab, son of Rekab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked him, “Are you as committed to me, as I am to you?” “Yes I am,” Jehonadab replied. “In that case, give me your hand,” said Jehu. So he stretched out his hand, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot.

¹⁶“Come with me and see how dedicated I am to the Lord!” Jehu said, and had him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷When Jehu arrived in Samaria, he went around killing everyone who was left of Ahab's family until he had killed all of them, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.

¹⁸Jehu had all the people gather together and told them, “Ahab worshiped Baal a little, but Jehu will worship him a lot.

¹⁹So summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. Make sure no one is missing, because I'm organizing a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who doesn't attend will be executed.” But Jehu's plan was a trick to destroy the followers of Baal.

²⁰Jehu gave the order, “Call a religious assembly to honor Baal!” So they did so.

²¹Jehu sent the announcement through the whole of Israel. All the followers of Baal came—not a single man was missing. They went into the temple of Baal, filling it from end to end.

²²Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Distribute clothes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out clothes for them.

²³Then Jehu and Jehonadab, son of Rekab, went into the temple of Baal. Jehu told the followers of Baal, “Look around and make sure that no one who follows the Lord is here with you, only the worshipers of Baal.”

²⁴They were inside presenting sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had positioned eighty men outside and cautioned them, “I'm handing these men over to you. If you let any of them escape, you will pay for his life with yours.”

²⁵As soon as Jehu had finished presenting the burnt offering, he ordered his guards and officers, “Go in and kill them all! Don't let even one escape!” So they killed them with their swords. The guards and officers threw their bodies outside, and then they went into the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal.

²⁶They dragged out the idol pillars and burned them.

²⁷They smashed the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal and turned it into a toilet, which it still is to this day.

²⁸This was how Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel,

²⁹but he did not end the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had made Israel commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

³⁰The Lord said to Jehu, “Since you have done well, and have carried out what is right in my sight, and have accomplished all that I planned for the house of Ahab, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”