Jehu Slaughters Ahab’s Descendants

1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in ^pSamaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city,¹ to the elders, and to ^qthe guardians of the sons² of Ahab, saying, 2 “Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, 3 select the best and fittest of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.” 4 But they were exceedingly afraid and said, “Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand?” 5 So he who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, ^r“We are your servants, and we will do all that you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.” 6 Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, ^qwho were bringing them up. 7 And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons ^sand slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8 When the messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.” 9 Then in the morning, when he went out, he stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. ^tIt was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck down all these? 10 Know then that there shall ^ufall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done ^vwhat he said by his servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

12 Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu met ^wthe relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.” 14 He said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two persons, and he spared none of them.

15 And when he departed from there, he met ^xJehonadab the son of ^yRechab coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said,³ “If it is, ^zgive me your hand.” So he gave him his hand. And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. 16 And he said, “Come with me, and see ^amy zeal for the Lord.” So he⁴ had him ride in his chariot. 17 And when he came to Samaria, ^bhe struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the Lord ^vthat he spoke to Elijah.

Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal

18 Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, ^c“Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now therefore call to me all the ^dprophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu ordered, ^e“Sanctify ^fa solemn assembly for Baal.” So ^gthey proclaimed it. 21 And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered ^hthe house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them. 23 Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they⁵ went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape ⁱshall forfeit his life.” 25 So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, ^j“Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, 26 and they brought out the ^kpillar that was in ^hthe house of Baal and burned it. 27 And they demolished the ^kpillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it ^la latrine to this day.

Jehu Reigns in Israel

28 Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. 29 But Jehu did not turn aside from ^mthe sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ⁿwhich he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, ^oyour sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. ^pHe did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.

32 In those days the Lord ^qbegan to cut off parts of Israel. ^rHazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from ^sAroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, ^tGilead and Bashan. 34 Now 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? 35 So Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is ^xfaint and ^ypours out his complaint before the Lord.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aa prisoner for Christ Jesus, and ^bTimothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and ^cArchippus our ^dfellow soldier, and ^ethe church in your house:

3 ^fGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

4 ^gI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I ^hhear of your love and ⁱof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full ^jknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.¹ 7 For I have derived much joy and ^kcomfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints ^lhave been refreshed through you.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

8 Accordingly, ^mthough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ⁿwhat is required, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^oa prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for ^pmy child, ^qOnesimus,^{2 r}whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^son your behalf ^tduring my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^uby compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why ^vhe was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 ^wno longer as a bondservant³ but more than a bondservant, as ^xa beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^yboth in the flesh and in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me ^zyour partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 ^aI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. ^bRefresh my heart in Christ.

21 ^cConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for ^dI am hoping that ^ethrough your prayers ^fI will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

23 ^gEpaphras, my ^hfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do ⁱMark, ⁱAristarchus, ^jDemas, and ^jLuke, my fellow workers.

25 ^kThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Greeting

1 ^aThe elder to the elect lady and her children, ^bwhom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who ^cknow ^dthe truth, 2 ^ebecause of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

3 ^fGrace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

Walking in Truth and Love

4 ^gI rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—^hnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—ⁱthat we love one another. 6 And ^jthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just ^kas you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For ^lmany deceivers ^mhave gone out into the world, ⁿthose who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, ^oso that you may not lose what we¹ have worked for, but ^pmay win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, ^qdoes not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching ^qhas both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^rdo not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him ^stakes part in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

12 ^tThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. ^uInstead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, ^vso that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect sister greet you.

Greeting

1 ^aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, ^bwhom I love in truth.

2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For ^cI rejoiced greatly when the brothers¹ came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that ^dmy children are walking in the truth.

Support and Opposition

5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for ^ethese brothers, ^fstrangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner ^gworthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of ^hthe name, ⁱaccepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, ^jdo not imitate evil but imitate good. ^kWhoever does good is from God; ^lwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius ^mhas received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and ⁿyou know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

13 ^oI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, ^peach by name.