Holman Christian Standard Bible (115 page)

So he gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot with him.
16
 Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the
Lord
! ” So he let him ride with him in his chariot.
17
 When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained from the house of Ahab in Samaria until he had annihilated his house, according to the word of the
Lord
spoken to Elijah. 

Jehu Kills the Baal Worshipers

18
 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served
•Baal
 a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot.
19
 Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. None must be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” However, Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20
 Jehu commanded, “Consecrate a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they called one.

21
 Then Jehu sent messengers throughout all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; there was not a man left who did not come. They entered the temple of Baal, and it was filled from one end to the other.
22
 Then he said to the custodian of the wardrobe, “Bring out the garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out their garments.

23
 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look carefully to see that there are no servants of the
Lord
here among you — only servants of Baal.”
24
 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and
•burnt
offerings.

Now Jehu had stationed 80 men outside, and he warned them, “Whoever allows any of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape will forfeit his life for theirs.” 
25
 When he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them. Don't let anyone out.” So they struck them down with the sword. Then the guards and officers threw the bodies out and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal.
26
 They brought out the pillars of the temple of Baal and burned them
27
 and tore down the pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it a latrine  — which it is to this day.

Evaluation of Jehu's Reign

28
 Jehu eliminated Baal worship from Israel,
29
 but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit — worshiping the gold calves that were in Bethel and Dan. 
30
 Nevertheless, the
Lord
said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.” 

31
 Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the
Lord
God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

32
 In those days the
Lord
began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory:
33
 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead — the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites — from Aroer which is by the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan. 

34
 Now the rest of the events of Jehu's reign, along with all his accomplishments and all his might, are written in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings. 
35
 Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz became king in his place.
36
 The length of Jehu's reign over Israel in Samaria was 28 years. 

2 Kings

Athaliah Usurps the Throne

11
When Athaliah, Ahaziah's mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.
2
 Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's sister, secretly rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king's sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. So he was hidden from Athaliah and was not killed.
3
 Joash was in hiding with Jehosheba in the
Lord
's temple six years while Athaliah ruled over the land.

Athaliah Overthrown

4
 Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent messengers and brought in the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards. He had them come to him in the
Lord
's temple, where he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king's son
5
 and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: a third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath are to provide protection for the king's palace.
6
 A third are to be at the Sur gate and a third at the gate behind the guards. You are to take turns providing protection for the palace.

7
 “Your two divisions that go off duty on the Sabbath are to provide protection for the
Lord
's temple.
8
 You must completely surround the king with weapons in hand. Anyone who approaches the ranks is to be put to death. You must be with the king in all his daily tasks.”

9
 So the commanders of hundreds did everything Jehoiada the priest commanded. They each brought their men — those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty — and went to Jehoiada the priest. 
10
 The priest gave to the commanders of hundreds King David's spears and shields that were in the
Lord
's temple.
11
 Then the guards stood with their weapons in hand surrounding the king — from the right side of the temple to the left side, by the altar and by the temple.

12
 He brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, gave him the
•testimony
, and made him king. They anointed him and clapped their hands and cried, “Long live the king! ” 

13
 When Athaliah heard the noise from the guard and the crowd, she went out to the people at the
Lord
's temple. 
14
 As she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar according to the custom. The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed “Treason! Treason! ” 

15
 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Take her out between the ranks, and put to death by the sword anyone who follows her,” for the priest had said, “She is not to be put to death in the
Lord
's temple.” 
16
 So they arrested her, and she went through the horse entrance to the king's palace, where she was put to death. 

Jehoiada's Reforms

17
 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the
Lord
, the king, and the people that they would be the
Lord
's people and another covenant between the king and the people.
18
 So all the people of the land went to the temple of
•Baal
and tore it down. They broke its altars and images into pieces, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars. 

Then Jehoiada the priest appointed guards for the
Lord
's temple. 
19
 He took the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the
Lord
's temple. They entered the king's palace by way of the guards' gate. Then Joash sat on the throne of the kings.
20
 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword in the king's palace.

Judah's King Joash

21
 Joash was seven years old when he became king. 

2 Kings

12
 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king and reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah, who was from Beer-sheba. 
2
 Throughout the time Jehoiada the priest instructed him, Joash did what was right in the
Lord
's sight. 
3
 Yet the
•high
places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. 

Repairing the Temple

4
 Then Joash said to the priests, “All the dedicated money brought to the
Lord
's temple, census money, money from vows, and all money voluntarily given for the
Lord
's temple,
5
 each priest is to take from his assessor and repair whatever damage to the temple is found.”

6
 But by the twenty-third year of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not repaired the damage to the temple. 
7
 So King Joash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said, “Why haven't you repaired the temple's damage? Since you haven't, don't take any money from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.”
8
 So the priests agreed they would not take money from the people and they would not repair the temple's damage.

9
 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the
Lord
's temple; in it the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the
Lord
's temple. 
10
 Whenever they saw there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest would go to the
Lord
's temple and count the money found there and tie it up in bags. 
11
 Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those doing the work — those who oversaw the
Lord
's temple. They in turn would pay it out to those working on the
Lord
's temple — the carpenters, the builders,
12
 the masons, and the stonecutters — and would use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the damage to the
Lord
's temple and for all spending for temple repairs.

13
 However, no silver bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver were made for the
Lord
's temple from the money brought into the temple.
14
 Instead, it was given to those doing the work, and they repaired the
Lord
's temple with it.
15
 No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay those doing the work, since they worked with integrity. 
16
 The money from the
•restitution
offering and the
•sin
offering was not brought to the
Lord
's temple since it belonged to the priests. 

Aramean Invasion of Judah

17
 At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he planned to attack Jerusalem. 
18
 So King Joash of Judah took all the consecrated items that his ancestors — Judah's kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah — had consecrated, along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the
Lord
's temple and in the king's palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.

Joash Assassinated

19
 The rest of the events of Joash's reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings. 
20
 Joash's servants conspired against him and killed him at Beth-millo on the road that goes down to Silla.
21
 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. Then they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Amaziah became king in his place. 

2 Kings

Israel's King Jehoahaz

13
In the twenty-third year of Judah's King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned 17 years.
2
 He did what was evil in the
Lord
's sight and followed the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them. 
3
 So the
Lord
's anger burned against Israel, and He surrendered them to the power of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad during their reigns.

4
 Then Jehoahaz sought the
Lord
's favor, and the
Lord
heard him, for He saw the oppression the king of Aram inflicted on Israel. 
5
 Therefore, the
Lord
gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped from the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel dwelt in their tents as before,
6
 but they didn't turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. Jehoahaz walked in them, and the
•Asherah
pole also remained standing in Samaria.
7
 Jehoahaz did not have an army left, except for 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them, making them like dust at threshing. 

8
 The rest of the events of Jehoahaz's reign, along with all his accomplishments and his might, are written in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings. 
9
 Jehoahaz rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoash became king in his place.

Israel's King Jehoash

10
 In the thirty-seventh year of Judah's King Joash, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria and reigned 16 years.
11
 He did what was evil in the
Lord
's sight. He did not turn away from all the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit, but he walked in them.