The Descendants of Ahab Are Killed

¹There were seventy descendants of King Ahab living in the city of Samaria. Jehu wrote a letter and sent copies to the rulers of the city, to the leading citizens, and to the guardians of Ahab's descendants. The letter read:

²“You are in charge of the king's descendants, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, weapons, and fortified cities. So then, as soon as you receive this letter,

³you are to choose the best qualified of the king's descendants, make him king, and fight to defend him.”

⁴The rulers of Samaria were terrified. “How can we oppose Jehu,” they said, “when neither King Joram nor King Ahaziah could?”

⁵So the officer in charge of the palace and the official in charge of the city, together with the leading citizens and the guardians, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we are ready to do anything you say. But we will not make anyone king; do whatever you think best.”

⁶Jehu wrote them another letter: “If you are with me and are ready to follow my orders, bring the heads of King Ahab's descendants to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” The seventy descendants of King Ahab were under the care of the leading citizens of Samaria, who were bringing them up.

⁷When Jehu's letter was received, the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's descendants, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

⁸When Jehu was told that the heads of Ahab's descendants had been brought, he ordered them to be piled up in two heaps at the city gate and to be left there until the following morning.

⁹In the morning he went out to the gate and said to the people who were there, “I was the one who plotted against King Joram and killed him; you are not responsible for that. But who killed all these?

¹⁰This proves that everything that the Lord said about the descendants of Ahab will come true. The Lord has done what he promised through his prophet Elijah.”

¹¹Then Jehu put to death all the other relatives of Ahab living in Jezreel, and all his officers, close friends, and priests; not one of them was left alive.

The Relatives of King Ahaziah Are Killed

¹²Jehu left Jezreel to go to Samaria. On the way, at a place called “Shepherds' Camp,”

¹³he met some relatives of the late King Ahaziah of Judah and asked them, “Who are you?” “Ahaziah's relatives,” they answered. “We are going to Jezreel to pay our respects to the children of Queen Jezebel and to the rest of the royal family.”

¹⁴Jehu ordered his men, “Take them alive!” They seized them, and he put them to death near a pit there. There were forty-two people in all, and not one of them was left alive.

All Remaining Relatives of Ahab Are Killed

¹⁵Jehu started out again, and on his way he was met by Jonadab son of Rechab. Jehu greeted him and said, “You and I think alike. Will you support me?” “I will,” Jonadab answered. “Give me your hand, then,” Jehu replied. They clasped hands, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot,

¹⁶saying, “Come with me and see for yourself how devoted I am to the Lord.” And they rode on together to Samaria.

¹⁷When they arrived there, Jehu killed all of Ahab's relatives, not sparing even one. This is what the Lord had told Elijah would happen.

The Worshipers of Baal Are Killed

¹⁸Jehu called the people of Samaria together and said, “King Ahab served the god Baal a little, but I will serve him much more.

¹⁹Call together all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests. No one is excused; I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal, and whoever is not present will be put to death.” (This was a trick on the part of Jehu by which he meant to kill all the worshipers of Baal.)

²⁰Then Jehu ordered, “Proclaim a day of worship in honor of Baal!” The proclamation was made,

²¹and Jehu sent word throughout all the land of Israel. All who worshiped Baal came; not one of them failed to come. They all went into the temple of Baal, filling it from one end to the other.

²²Then Jehu ordered the priest in charge of the sacred robes to bring the robes out and give them to the worshipers.

²³After that, Jehu himself went into the temple with Jonadab son of Rechab and said to the people there, “Make sure that only worshipers of Baal are present and that no worshiper of the Lord has come in.”

²⁴Then he and Jonadab went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to Baal. He had stationed eighty men outside the temple and had instructed them: “You are to kill all these people; anyone who lets one of them escape will pay for it with his life!”

²⁵As soon as Jehu had presented the offerings, he said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them all; don't let anyone escape!” They went in with drawn swords, killed them all, and dragged the bodies outside. Then they went on into the inner sanctuary of the temple,

²⁶brought out the sacred pillar that was there, and burned it.

²⁷So they destroyed the sacred pillar and the temple, and turned the temple into a latrine—which it still is today.

²⁸That was how Jehu wiped out the worship of Baal in Israel.

²⁹But he imitated the sin of King Jeroboam, who led Israel into the sin of worshiping the gold bull-calves he set up in Bethel and in Dan.

³⁰The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done to Ahab's descendants everything I wanted you to do. So I promise you that your descendants, down to the fourth generation, will be kings of Israel.”

³¹But Jehu did not obey with all his heart the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel; instead, he followed the example of Jeroboam, who led Israel into sin.

The Death of Jehu

³²At that time the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria conquered all the Israelite territory

³³east of the Jordan, as far south as the town of Aroer on the Arnon River—this included the territories of Gilead and Bashan, where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh lived.

³⁴Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵He died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king.

³⁶Jehu had ruled in Samaria as king of Israel for twenty-eight years.

¹These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.

²Amos said, “The Lord roars from Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem. The pastures dry up, and the grass on Mount Carmel turns brown.”

Syria

³The Lord says, “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They treated the people of Gilead with savage cruelty.

⁴So I will send fire upon the palace built by King Hazael and I will burn down the fortresses of King Benhadad.

⁵I will smash the city gates of Damascus and remove the inhabitants of Aven Valley and the ruler of Betheden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to the land of Kir.”

Philistia

⁶The Lord says, “The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation and sold them as slaves to the people of Edom.

⁷So I will send fire upon the city walls of Gaza and burn down its fortresses.

⁸I will remove the rulers of the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. I will punish the city of Ekron, and all the Philistines who are left will die.”

Tyre

⁹The Lord says, “The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation into exile in the land of Edom, and did not keep the treaty of friendship they had made.

¹⁰So I will send fire upon the city walls of Tyre and burn down its fortresses.”

Edom

¹¹The Lord says, “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die.

¹²So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah.”

Ammon

¹³The Lord says, “The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead.

¹⁴So I will send fire upon the city walls of Rabbah and burn down its fortresses. Then there will be shouts on the day of battle, and the fighting will rage like a storm.

¹⁵Their king and his officers will go into exile.”

Moab

¹The Lord says, “The people of Moab have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They dishonored the bones of the king of Edom by burning them to ashes.

²I will send fire upon the land of Moab and burn down the fortresses of Kerioth. The people of Moab will die in the noise of battle while soldiers are shouting and trumpets are sounding.

³I will kill the ruler of Moab and all the leaders of the land.”

Judah

⁴The Lord says, “The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They have despised my teachings and have not kept my commands. They have been led astray by the same false gods that their ancestors served.

⁵So I will send fire upon Judah and burn down the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

God's Judgment on Israel

⁶The Lord says, “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals.

⁷They trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name.

⁸At every place of worship people sleep on clothing that they have taken from the poor as security for debts. In the temple of their God they drink wine which they have taken from those who owe them money.

⁹“And yet, my people, it was for your sake that I totally destroyed the Amorites, who were as tall as cedar trees and as strong as oaks.

¹⁰I brought you out of Egypt, led you through the desert for forty years, and gave you the land of the Amorites to be your own.

¹¹I chose some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be nazirites. Isn't this true, people of Israel? I, the Lord, have spoken.

¹²But you made the nazirites drink wine, and ordered the prophets not to speak my message.

¹³And now I will crush you to the ground, and you will groan like a cart loaded with grain.

¹⁴Not even fast runners will escape; strong men will lose their strength, and soldiers will not be able to save their own lives.

¹⁵Archers will not stand their ground, fast runners will not get away, and men on horses will not escape with their lives.

¹⁶On that day even the bravest soldiers will drop their weapons and run.” The Lord has spoken.

¹People of Israel, listen to this message which the Lord has spoken about you, the entire nation that he brought out of Egypt:

²“Of all the nations on earth, you are the only one I have known and cared for. That is what makes your sins so terrible, and that is why I must punish you for them.”

The Prophet's Task

³Do two people start traveling together without arranging to meet?

⁴Does a lion roar in the forest unless he has found a victim? Does a young lion growl in his den unless he has caught something?

⁵Does a bird get caught in a trap if the trap has not been baited? Does a trap spring unless something sets it off?

⁶Does the war trumpet sound in a city without making the people afraid? Does disaster strike a city unless the Lord sends it?

⁷The Sovereign Lord never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

⁸When a lion roars, who can keep from being afraid? When the Sovereign Lord speaks, who can keep from proclaiming his message?

The Doom of Samaria

⁹Announce to those who live in the palaces of Egypt and Ashdod: “Gather together in the hills around Samaria and see the great disorder and the crimes being committed there.”

¹⁰The Lord says, “These people fill their mansions with things taken by crime and violence. They don't even know how to be honest.

¹¹And so an enemy will surround their land, destroy their defenses, and plunder their mansions.”

¹²The Lord says, “As a shepherd recovers only two legs or an ear of a sheep that a lion has eaten, so only a few will survive of Samaria's people, who now recline on luxurious couches.

¹³Listen now, and warn the descendants of Jacob,” says the Sovereign Lord Almighty.

¹⁴“On the day when I punish the people of Israel for their sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel. The corners of every altar will be broken off and will fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will destroy winter houses and summer houses. The houses decorated with ivory will fall in ruins; every large house will be destroyed.”

The Lord and His Chosen King

¹The Lord said to my lord, “Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.”

²From Zion the Lord will extend your royal power. “Rule over your enemies,” he says.

³On the day you fight your enemies, your people will volunteer. Like the dew of early morning your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.

⁴The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back: “You will be a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord is at your right side; when he becomes angry, he will defeat kings.

⁶He will pass judgment on the nations and fill the battlefield with corpses; he will defeat kings all over the earth.

⁷The king will drink from the stream by the road, and strengthened, he will stand victorious.