Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran: The Pillars of Three Faiths. Various Authors

and put their heads in baskets, and sent them unto him 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 entrance 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 are righteous; behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him; but who smote all these? ¹⁰Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord hath done that which He spoke by His servant Elijah.' ¹¹So Jehu smote all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until there was left him none remaining.

      ¹²And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds 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 thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?' And Jehonadab answered: 'It is.' 'If it be, [said Jehu,] give me thy 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 smote all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke to Elijah.

      ¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them: 'Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much. ¹⁹Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, 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 subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. ²⁰And Jehu said: 'Sanctify 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 filled 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 he 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 they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him fourscore men without, and said: 'If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, 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 pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them. ²⁷And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke 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, wherewith he made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, 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 My heart, thy sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.' ³¹But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

      ³²In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel: ³³from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of 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.

      11Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bed-chamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. ³And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years; and Athaliah reigned over the land.

      ⁴And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds, of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the Lord; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king's son. ⁵And he commanded them, saying: 'This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, and that keep the watch of the king's house—⁶now another third part was at the gate Sur, and another third part at the gate behind the guard—shall keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. ⁷And the other two parts of you, even all that go forth on the sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king. ⁸And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that cometh within the ranks, let him be slain; and be ye with the king when he goeth out, and when he cometh in.'

      ⁹And the captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰And the priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spear and shields that had been king David's, which were in the house of the Lord. ¹¹And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. ¹²Then he brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown and the insignia; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said: 'Long live the king.'

      ¹³And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of the Lord. ¹⁴And she looked, and, behold, the king stood on the platform, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried: 'Treason, treason.' ¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them: 'Have her forth between the ranks; and him that followeth her slay with the sword'; for the priest said: 'Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.' ¹⁶So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses' entry to the king's house; and there was she slain.

      ¹⁷And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people; between the king also and the people. ¹⁸And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹And he took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and came by the way of the gate of the guard unto the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they slew Athaliah with the sword at the king's house.

      12Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. ²In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and