II Kings 10

¹Forsothe seuenti sones in Samarie weren to Achab. Therfor Hieu wroot lettris, and sente in to Samarie to the beste men of the citee, and to the gretter men in birthe, and to alle the nurschis of Achab, and seide,

²Anoon as ye han take these lettris, ye that han the sones of youre lord, and the charis, and horsis, and stronge citees, and armeris,

³chese the beste, and hym that plesith to you of the sones of youre lord, and sette ye him on the trone of his fadir, and fiyte ye for the hows of youre lord.

⁴And thei dredden greetli, and seiden, Lo! twei kyngis myyten not stonde bifor hym, and how schulen we mowe ayenstonde hym?

⁵Therfor the souereyns of the hows, and the prefect of the citee, and the grettere men in birthe, and the nurchis senten to Hieu, and seiden, We ben thi seruauntis; what euer thingis thou comaundist, we schulen do, and we schulen not make a kyng to vs; do thou what euer thing plesith thee.

⁶Forsothe he wroot ayen to hem lettris the secunde tyme, and seide, If ye ben myne, and obeien to me, take ye the heedis of the sones of youre lord, and come ye to me in this same our to morewe in to Jezrael. Sotheli the sones of the kyng, seuenti men, weren nurschid at the beste men of the citee.

⁷And whanne the lettris hadden come to hem, thei token the sones of the kyng, and killiden seuenti men, and puttiden the heedis of hem in coffyns; and senten to hym in to Jezrael.

⁸Forsothe a messanger cam to hym, and schewide to hym, and seide, Thei han brouyt the heedis of the sones of the king. Which answeride, Putte ye tho heedis to tweyne hepis, bisidis the entring of the yate, til the morewtid.

⁹And whanne it was cleer dai, he yede out, and stood, and seide to al the puple, Ye ben iust men; if Y conspiride ayens my lord, and killide hym, who killide alle these?

¹⁰Therfor se ye now, that noon of the wordis of the Lord felde doun in to the erthe, whiche the Lord spak on the hows of Achab; and the Lord hath do that, that he spak in the hond of his seruaunt, Elie.

¹¹Therfor Hieu smoot alle that weren residue of the hows of Achab in Jezrael, and alle the beste men of hym, and knowun men, and preestis, til no relikis of hym leften.

¹²And he roos, and cam in to Samarie; and whanne he hadde come to the chaumbir of schepherdis in the weie,

¹³he foond the britheren of Ocozie, kyng of Juda; and he seide to hem, Who ben ye? And thei answeriden, We ben the britheren of Ocozie, and we comen doun to grete the sones of the kyng and the sones of the queen.

¹⁴Which Hieu seide, Take ye hem quyke. And whanne thei hadden take hem quyke, thei strangliden hem in the cisterne, bisidis the chaumbre, two and fourti men; and he lefte not ony of hem.

¹⁵And whanne he hadde go fro thennus, he foond Jonadab, the sone of Rechab, in to meetyng of hym; and he blesside hym. And Hieu seide to hym, Whether thin herte is riytful with myn herte, as myn herte is with thin herte? And Jonadab seide, It is. Hieu seide, If `it is, yyue thin hond. Which yaf his hond to hym; and he reiside hym to hym silf in to the chare.

¹⁶And he seide to hym, Come thou with me, and se my feruent loue for the Lord.

¹⁷And he ledde hym, put in hys chare, in to Samarie. And he killide alle men that weren residue of Achab in Samarie `til to oon, bi the word of the Lord, which he spak bi Elie.

¹⁸Therfor Hieu gaderide to gidere alle the puple, and seide to hem, Achab worschipide Baal a litil, but Y schal worschipe hym more.

¹⁹Now therfor clepe ye to me alle the prophetis of Baal, and alle hise seruauntis, and alle hise preestis; `noon be that come not, for grete sacrifice is of me to Baal; who euer schal faile, he schal not lyue. Forsothe Hieu dide this bi tresoun, that he schulde distrie alle the worschipers of Baal.

²⁰And he seide, Halewe ye a solempne day to Baal.

²¹And he clepide, and sente in to alle the termes of Israel; and alle the seruauntis of Baal camen, `noon was residue, and sotheli `not oon was that cam not. And thei entriden in to the temple of Baal; and the hows of Baal was fillid, fro oon ende `til to `the tothir.

²²And he seide to hem that weren souereyns ouer the clothis, Bringe ye forth clothis to alle the seruauntis of Baal; and thei brouyten forth clothis to hem.

²³And Hieu entride, and Jonadab, the sone of Rechab, in to the temple of Baal. And Hieu seide to the worschiperis of Baal, Enquere ye, and se, lest perauenture ony of the seruauntis of the Lord be with you; but that the seruauntis be aloone of Baal.

²⁴Therfor thei entriden, to make slayn sacrifices, and brent sacrifices. Sotheli Hieu hadde maad redi to hym with outforth foure scoore men, and hadde seid to hem, Who euer schal fle of alle these, whiche Y schal brynge in to youre hondis, the lijf of hym schal be for the lijf of hym that ascapith.

²⁵Forsothe it was don, whanne the brent sacrifice was fillid, Hieu comaundide to hise knyytis and duykis, Entre ye, and sle hem, that noon ascape. And the knyytis and duykis smytiden `hem bi the scharpnesse of swerd, and castiden forth. And `thei yeden into the citee of the temple of Baal,

²⁶and thei brouyten forth the ymage fro the temple of Baal,

²⁷and brenten it, and al to braken it. Also thei destrieden the hows of Baal, and maden priuyes for it `til in to this dai.

²⁸Therfor Hieu dide awei Baal fro Israel;

²⁹netheles he yede not awei fro the synnes of Jeroboam, sone of Nabath, that made Israel to do synne, nether he forsook the goldun caluys, that weren in Bethel and in Dan.

³⁰Forsothe the Lord seide to Hieu, For thou didist bisili that that was riytful, and pleside in myn yyen, and hast do ayens the hows of Achab alle thingis that weren in myn herte, thi sones `til to the fourthe generacioun schulen sitte on the trone of Israel.

³¹Forsothe Hieu kepte not, that he yede in the lawe of the Lord God of Israel in al his herte; for he yede not awei fro the synnes of Jeroboam, that made Israel to do synne.

³²In tho daies the Lord bigan to be anoyed on Israel; and Asahel smoot hem in alle the coostis of Israel,

³³fro Jordan ayens the eest coost, al the lond of Galaad, and of Gad, and of Ruben, and of Manasses, fro Aroer which is on the stronde of Arnon, and Galaad, and Baasan.

³⁴Forsothe the residue of wordis of Hieu, and alle thingis whiche he dide, and his strengthe, whether these ben not writun in the book of wordis of daies of the kyngis of Israel?

³⁵And Hieu slepte with hise fadris; and thei birieden hym in Samarie; and Joachaz, his sone, regnyde for hym.

³⁶Forsothe the daies, in whiche Hieu regnede on Israel in Samarie, ben eiyte and twenti yeer.

II Kings 10

¹And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s children, saying,

²Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour;

³Look even out the best and meetest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.

⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?

⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

⁷And 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 Jezreel.

⁸And there came a messenger, 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 entering in of the gate until the morning.

⁹And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

¹⁰Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.

¹¹So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

¹²And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way,

¹³Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.

¹⁴And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

¹⁵And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

¹⁶And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spake to Elijah.

¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

¹⁹Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

²⁰And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

²¹And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.

²²And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

²³And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of Baal only.

²⁴And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

²⁵And 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 slay them; let none come forth. 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 Baal.

²⁶And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.

²⁷And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.

²⁸Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

²⁹Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth–el, and that were in Dan.

³⁰And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

³¹But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

³²In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

³³From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

³⁴Now 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?

³⁵And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

³⁶And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.