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2 Kings 10 CEV
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>2 Kings 10 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_kings/10.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_kings/10-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 2 Kings 10</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_kings/9.htm" title="2 Kings 9">◄</a> 2 Kings 10 <a href="../2_kings/11.htm" title="2 Kings 11">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Jehu Kills All of Ahab's Descendants</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_1"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.1" class="v12_10_1">1</span>Ahab still had 70 descendants living in Samaria. So Jehu wrote a letter to each of the important leaders and officials of the town,<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and to those who supported Ahab. In the letters he wrote:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_10_2"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.2" class="v12_10_2">2</span>Your town is strong, and you're protected by chariots and an armed cavalry. And I know that King Ahab's descendants live there with you. So as soon as you read this letter, </span><span class="v12_10_3"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.3" class="v12_10_3">3</span>choose the best person for the job and make him the next king. Then be prepared to defend Ahab's family.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_4"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.4" class="v12_10_4">4</span>The officials and leaders read the letters and were very frightened. They said to each other, “Jehu has already killed King Joram and King Ahaziah! We have to do what he says.” </span><span class="v12_10_5"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.5" class="v12_10_5">5</span>The prime minister, the mayor of the city, as well as the other leaders and Ahab's supporters, sent this answer to Jehu, “We are your servants, Your Majesty, and we will do whatever you tell us. But it's not our place to choose someone to be king. You do what you think is best.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_6"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.6" class="v12_10_6">6</span>Jehu then wrote another letter which said, “If you are on my side and will obey me, then prove it. Bring me the heads of the descendants of Ahab! And be here in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_6">The 70 descendants of King Ahab were living with some of the most important people of the city. </span><span class="v12_10_7"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.7" class="v12_10_7">7</span>And when these people read Jehu's second letter, they called together all 70 of Ahab's descendants. They killed them, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jezreel.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_8"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.8" class="v12_10_8">8</span>When Jehu was told what had happened, he said, “Put the heads in two piles at the city gate, and leave them there until morning.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_9"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.9" class="v12_10_9">9</span>The next morning, Jehu went out and stood where everyone could hear him, and he said, “You people are not guilty of anything. I'm the one who plotted against Joram and had him killed. But who killed all these men? </span><span class="v12_10_10"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.10" class="v12_10_10">10</span>Listen to me. Everything the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s servant Elijah promised about Ahab's family will come true.”<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.10!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_11"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.11" class="v12_10_11">11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Then Jehu killed the rest of Ahab's relatives living in Jezreel, as well as his highest officials, his priests, and his closest friends. No one in Ahab's family was left alive in Jezreel.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_12"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.12-2Kgs.10.13" class="v12_10_12">12-13</span>Jehu left for Samaria, and along the way, he met some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah at a place where shepherds meet.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.12-2Kgs.10.13!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> He asked, “Who are you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_12">“We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered. “We're going to visit his family.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_14"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.14" class="v12_10_14">14</span>“Take them alive!” Jehu said to his officers. So they grabbed them and led them to the well near the shepherds' meeting place, where they killed all 42 of them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_15"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.15" class="v12_10_15">15</span>As Jehu went on, he saw Jehonadab son of Rechab<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.15!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him, then said, “Jehonadab, I'm on your side. Are you on mine?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_15">“Yes, I am.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_15">“Then give me your hand,” Jehu answered. He helped Jehonadab into his chariot </span><span class="v12_10_16"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.16" class="v12_10_16">16</span>and said, “Come with me and see how faithful I am to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_16">They rode together in Jehu's chariot </span><span class="v12_10_17"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.17" class="v12_10_17">17</span>to Samaria. Jehu killed everyone there who belonged to Ahab's family, as well as all his officials. Everyone in his family was now dead, just as the <span class="nd">Lord</span> had promised Elijah.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Jehu Kills All the Worshipers of Baal</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_18"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.18" class="v12_10_18">18</span>Jehu called together the people in Samaria and said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v12_10_18">King Ahab sometimes worshiped Baal, but I will be completely faithful to Baal. </span><span class="v12_10_19"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.19" class="v12_10_19">19</span>I'm going to offer a huge sacrifice to him. So invite his prophets and priests, and be sure everyone who worships him is there. Anyone who doesn't come will be killed.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_19">But this was a trick—Jehu was really planning to kill the worshipers of Baal. </span><span class="v12_10_20"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.20" class="v12_10_20">20</span>He said, “Announce a day of worship for Baal!” After the day had been announced, </span><span class="v12_10_21"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.21" class="v12_10_21">21</span>Jehu sent an invitation to everyone in Israel. All the worshipers of Baal came, and the temple was filled from one end to the other. </span><span class="v12_10_22"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.22" class="v12_10_22">22</span>Jehu told the official in charge of the sacred robes to make sure that everyone had a robe to wear.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_23"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.23" class="v12_10_23">23</span>Jehu and Jehonadab went into the temple, and Jehu said to the crowd, “Look around and make sure that only the worshipers of Baal are here. No one who worships the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is allowed in.” </span><span class="v12_10_24"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.24" class="v12_10_24">24</span>Then they began to offer sacrifices to Baal.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_24">Earlier, Jehu had ordered 80 soldiers to wait outside the temple. He had warned them, “I will get all these worshipers here, and if any of you let even one of them escape, you will be killed instead!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_25"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.25" class="v12_10_25">25</span>As soon as Jehu finished offering the sacrifice, he told the guards and soldiers, “Come in and kill them! Don't let anyone escape.” They slaughtered everyone in the crowd and threw the bodies outside. Then they went back into the temple </span><span class="v12_10_26"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.26" class="v12_10_26">26</span>and carried out the image of Baal. They burned it </span><span class="v12_10_27"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.27" class="v12_10_27">27</span>and broke it into pieces, then they completely destroyed Baal's temple. And since that time, it's been nothing but a public toilet.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.27!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_28"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.28" class="v12_10_28">28</span>That's how Jehu stopped the worship of Baal in Israel. </span><span class="v12_10_29"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.29" class="v12_10_29">29</span><a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.29!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But he did not stop the worship of the gold statues of calves at Dan and Bethel that Jeroboam had made for the people to worship.<a href="#fn" id="link_2Kgs.10.29!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_30"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.30" class="v12_10_30">30</span>Later the <span class="nd">Lord</span> said, “Jehu, you have done right by destroying Ahab's entire family, just as I had planned. So I will make sure that the next four kings of Israel will come from your own family.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_31"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.31" class="v12_10_31">31</span>But Jehu did not completely obey the commands of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel. Instead, he kept doing the sinful things that Jeroboam had caused the Israelites to do.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Jehu Dies</h3><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_32"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.32" class="v12_10_32">32</span>In those days the <span class="nd">Lord</span> began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria defeated the Israelites and took control </span><span class="v12_10_33"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.33" class="v12_10_33">33</span>of the regions of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan River and north of the town of Aroer near the Arnon River. This was the land where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh had once lived.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v12_10_34"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.34" class="v12_10_34">34</span>Everything else Jehu did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in <span class="bk">The History of the Kings of Israel</span>. </span><span class="v12_10_35"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.35" class="v12_10_35">35</span>Jehu died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz became king. </span><span class="v12_10_36"><span class="reftext" id="2Kgs.10.36" class="v12_10_36">36</span>Jehu had ruled Israel 28 years from Samaria.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the town: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Two ancient translations; Hebrew “Jezreel.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.10 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Everything … come true: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 1 Kings 21.17-24.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.12,13 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">at a place where shepherds meet: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “at Betheked of the Shepherds.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Jehonadab son of Rechab: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Jehonadab the chariot driver.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.27 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">public toilet: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “garbage dump.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">10.29 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">gold statues … to worship: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See 1 Kings 12.26-30.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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