2 Kings 10; 2 Kings 11; 2 Kings 12

1 Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officers and older leaders of Jezreel and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab. Jehu said,

2 "You have your master's sons with you, and you have chariots, horses, a city with strong walls, and weapons. When you get this letter,

3 choose the best and most worthy person among your master's sons, and make him king. Then fight for your master's family."

4 But the officers and leaders of Jezreel were frightened. They said, "Two kings could not stand up to Jehu, so how can we?"

5 The palace manager, the city governor, the leaders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu. "We are your servants," they said. "We will do everything you tell us to do. We won't make any man king, so do whatever you think is best."

6 Then Jehu wrote a second letter, saying, "If you are on my side and will obey me, cut off the heads of your master's sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time." Now the seventy sons of the king's family were with the leading men of the city who were their guardians.

7 When the leaders received the letter, they took the king's sons and killed all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

8 The messenger came to Jehu and told him, "They have brought the heads of the king's sons." Then Jehu said, "Lay the heads in two piles at the city gate until morning."

9 In the morning, Jehu went out and stood before the people and said to them, "You are innocent. Look, I made plans against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

10 You should know that everything the Lord said about Ahab's family will come true. The Lord has spoken through his servant Elijah, and the Lord has done what he said."

11 So Jehu killed everyone of Ahab's family in Jezreel who was still alive. He also killed all Ahab's leading men, close friends, and priests. No one who had helped Ahab was left alive.

12 Then Jehu left and went to Samaria by way of the road to Beth Eked of the Shepherds.

13 There Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah. Jehu asked, "Who are you?" They answered, "We are relatives of Ahaziah. We have come down to get revenge for the families of the king and the king's mother."

14 Then Jehu said, "Take them alive!" So they captured Ahaziah's relatives alive and killed them at the well near Beth Eked -- forty-two of them. Jehu did not leave anyone alive.

15 After Jehu left there, he met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was also on his way to meet Jehu. Jehu greeted him and said, "Are you as good a friend to me as I am to you?" Jehonadab answered, "Yes, I am." Jehu said, "If you are, then give me your hand." So Jehonadab gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him into the chariot.

16 "Come with me," Jehu said. "You can see how strong my feelings are for the Lord." So Jehu had Jehonadab ride in his chariot.

17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all of Ahab's family in Samaria. He destroyed all those who were left, just as the Lord had told Elijah it would happen.

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

19 Now call for me all Baal's prophets and priests and all the people who worship Baal. Don't let anyone miss this meeting, because I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who is not there will not live." But Jehu was tricking them so he could destroy the worshipers of Baal.

20 He said, "Prepare a holy meeting for Baal." So they announced the meeting.

21 Then Jehu sent word through all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came; not one stayed home. They came into the temple of Baal, and the temple was filled from one side to the other.

22 Jehu said to the man who kept the robes, "Bring out robes for all the worshipers of Baal." After he brought out robes for them,

23 Jehu and Jehonadab son of Recab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the worshipers of Baal, "Look around, and make sure there are no servants of the Lord with you. Be sure there are only worshipers of Baal."

24 Then the worshipers of Baal went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Jehu had eighty men waiting outside. He had told them, "Don't let anyone escape. If you do, you must pay with your own life."

25 As soon as Jehu finished offering the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and the captains, "Go in and kill the worshipers of Baal. Don't let anyone come out." So the guards and captains killed the worshipers of Baal with the sword and threw their bodies out. Then they went to the inner rooms of the temple

26 and brought out the pillars of the temple of Baal and burned them.

27 They tore down the stone pillar of Baal, as well as the temple of Baal. And they made it into a sewage pit, as it is today.

28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel,

29 but he did not stop doing the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin by worshiping the golden calves in Bethel and Dan.

30 The Lord said to Jehu, "You have done well in obeying what I said was right. You have done to the family of Ahab as I wanted. Because of this, your descendants as far as your great-great-grandchildren will be kings of Israel."

31 But Jehu was not careful to follow the teachings of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam had done, by which he had led Israel to sin.

32 At that time the Lord began to make Israel smaller. Hazael defeated the Israelites in all the land of Israel,

33 taking all the land of the Jordan known as the land of Gilead. (It was the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh.) He took land from Aroer by the Arnon Ravine through Gilead to Bashan.

34 The other things Jehu did -- everything he did and all his victories -- are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.

35 Jehu died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz became king in his place.

36 Jehu was king over Israel in Samaria for twenty-eight years.

1 When Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, saw that her son was dead, she killed all the royal family.

2 But Jehosheba, King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's sister, took Joash, Ahaziah's son. She stole him from among the other sons of the king who were about to be murdered. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, so he was not killed.

3 He hid with her in the Temple of the Lord for six years. During that time Athaliah ruled the land.

4 In the seventh year Jehoiada sent for the commanders of groups of a hundred men, as well as the Carites. He brought them together in the Temple of the Lord and made an agreement with them. There, in the Temple of the Lord, he made them promise loyalty, and then he showed them the king's son.

5 He commanded them, "This is what you must do. A third of you who go on duty on the Sabbath will guard the king's palace.

6 A third of you will be at the Sur Gate, and another third will be at the gate behind the guard. This way you will guard the Temple.

7 The two groups who go off duty on the Sabbath must protect the Temple of the Lord for the king.

8 All of you must stand around the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. If anyone comes near, kill him. Stay close to the king when he goes out and when he comes in."

9 The commanders over a hundred men obeyed everything Jehoiada the priest had commanded. Each one took his men who came on duty on the Sabbath and those who went off duty on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

10 He gave the commanders the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and that were kept in the Temple of the Lord.

11 Then each guard took his place with his weapons in his hand. There were guards from the south side of the Temple to the north side. They stood by the altar and the Temple and around the king.

12 Jehoiada brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him a copy of the agreement. They appointed him king and poured olive oil on him. Then they clapped their hands and said, "Long live the king!"

13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guards and the people, she went to them at the Temple of the Lord.

14 She looked, and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and trumpeters were standing beside him, and all the people of the land were very happy and were blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, "Traitors! Traitors!"

15 Jehoiada the priest gave orders to the commanders of a hundred men, who led the army. He said, "Surround her with soldiers and kill with a sword anyone who follows her." He commanded this because he had said, "Don't put Athaliah to death in the Temple of the Lord."

16 So they caught her when she came to the horses' entrance near the palace. There she was put to death.

17 Then Jehoiada made an agreement between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord's special people. He also made an agreement between the king and the people.

18 All the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down, smashing the altars and idols. They also killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. Then Jehoiada the priest placed guards at the Temple of the Lord.

19 He took with him the commanders of a hundred men and the Carites, the royal bodyguards, as well as the guards and all the people of the land. Together they took the king out of the Temple of the Lord and went into the palace through the gate of the guards. Then the king sat on the royal throne.

20 So all the people of the land were very happy, and Jerusalem had peace, because Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the palace.

21 Joash was seven years old when he became king.

1 Joash became king of Judah in Jehu's seventh year as king of Israel, and he ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba.

2 Joash did what the Lord said was right as long as Jehoiada the priest taught him.

3 But the places where gods were worshiped were not removed; the people still made sacrifices and burned incense there.

4 Joash said to the priests, "Take all the money brought as offerings to the Temple of the Lord. This includes the money each person owes in taxes and the money each person promises or brings freely to the Lord.

5 Each priest will take the money from the people he serves. Then the priests must repair any damage they find in the Temple."

6 But by the twenty-third year Joash was king, the priests still had not repaired the Temple.

7 So King Joash called for Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why aren't you repairing the damage of the Temple? Don't take any more money from the people you serve, but hand over the money for the repair of the Temple."

8 The priests agreed not to take any more money from the people and not to repair the Temple themselves.

9 Jehoiada the priest took a box and made a hole in the top of it. Then he put it by the altar, on the right side as the people came into the Temple of the Lord. The priests guarding the doorway put all the money brought to the Temple of the Lord into the box.

10 Each time the priests saw that the box was full of money, the king's royal secretary and the high priest came. They counted the money that had been brought to the Temple of the Lord, and they put it into bags.

11 Next they weighed the money and gave it to the people in charge of the work on the Temple. With it they paid the carpenters and the builders who worked on the Temple of the Lord,

12 as well as the bricklayers and stonecutters. They also used the money to buy timber and cut stone to repair the damage of the Temple of the Lord. It paid for everything.

13 The money brought into the Temple of the Lord was not used to make silver cups, wick trimmers, bowls, trumpets, or gold or silver vessels.

14 They paid the money to the workers, who used it to repair the Temple of the Lord.

15 They did not demand to know how the money was spent, because the workers were honest.

16 The money from the penalty offerings and sin offerings was not brought into the Temple of the Lord, because it belonged to the priests.

17 About this time Hazael king of Aram attacked Gath and captured it. Then he went to attack Jerusalem.

18 Joash king of Judah took all the holy things given by his ancestors, the kings of Judah -- Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah. He also took his own holy things as well as the gold that was found in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the gold from the palace. Joash sent all this treasure to Hazael king of Aram, who turned away from Jerusalem.

19 Everything else Joash did is written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.

20 His officers made plans against him and killed him at Beth Millo on the road down to Silla.

21 The officers who killed him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. Joash was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, and Amaziah, his son, became king in his place.