Bible Reading Plan – Day 160

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.

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 42 people in all, and not one of them was left alive.

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.

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 worshippers, 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 worshippers of Baal.) ₂₀Then Jehu ordered, “Proclaim a day of worship in honour of Baal!” The proclamation was made, ₂₁and Jehu sent word throughout all the land of Israel. All who worshipped 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 worshippers. ₂₃After that, Jehu himself went into the temple with Jonadab son of Rechab and said to the people there, “Make sure that only worshippers of Baal are present and that no worshipper 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 burnt 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 worshipping 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.

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 River Arnon — 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 28 years.

₁As soon as King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learnt of her son's murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family to be killed. ₂Only Ahaziah's son Joash escaped. He was about to be killed with the others, but was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half-sister. She took him and his nurse into a bedroom in the Temple and hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. ₃For six years Jehosheba took care of the boy and kept him hidden in the Temple, while Athaliah ruled as queen.

₄But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest sent for the officers in charge of the royal bodyguard and of the palace guards, and told them to come to the Temple, where he made them agree under oath to what he planned to do. He showed them King Ahaziah's son Joash ₅and gave them the following orders: “When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace; ₆another third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate, and the other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards. ₇The two groups that go off duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the Temple to protect the king. ₈You are to guard King Joash with drawn swords and stay with him wherever he goes. Anyone who comes near you is to be killed.”

₉The officers obeyed Jehoiada's instructions and brought their men to him — those going off duty on the Sabbath and those going on duty. ₁₀He gave the officers the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple, ₁₁and he stationed the men with drawn swords all round the front of the Temple, to protect the king. ₁₂Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Joash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”

₁₃Queen Athaliah heard the noise being made by the guards and the people, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. ₁₄There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. He was surrounded by the officers and the trumpeters, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

₁₅Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the temple area, so he ordered the army officers: “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” ₁₆They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.

₁₇The priest Jehoiada made King Joash and the people enter into a covenant with the LORD that they would be the LORD's people; he also made a covenant between the king and the people. ₁₈Then the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down; they smashed the altars and the idols, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

Jehoiada put guards on duty at the Temple, ₁₉and then he, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace, followed by all the people. Joash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the throne. ₂₀All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed in the palace.

₂₁Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven.

₁In the seventh year of the reign of King Jehu of Israel, Joash became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba. ₂Throughout his life he did what pleased the LORD, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ₃However, the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.