1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying, 2 “And now, when this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, as well as the chariots and horses, and a fortified city and the weapons, 3 select the best and most capable of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” 4 But they feared greatly and said, “Behold, the two kings did not stand firm before him; how then can we stand?” 5 And the one who was in charge of the household, and the one who was in charge of the city, and the elders, and the guardians of the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and everything that you tell us we will do. We will not appoint any man king; do what is good in your sight.” 6 Then he wrote them a letter a second time, saying, “If you are on my side, and will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel about this time tomorrow.” Now the king’s sons, seventy men, were with the great people of the city, who were raising them. 7 When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8 When the messenger came and informed him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.” 9 Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent; behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know then that nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, shall fall to the earth, for the Lord has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah.” 11 So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.
12 Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way while he was at Beth-eked of the shepherds, 13 Jehu encountered the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.” 14 Then he said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive, and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.
15 Now when he had gone from there, he encountered Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, just as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he pulled him up to him into the chariot. 16 Then he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had him ride in his chariot. 17 When he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had eliminated them, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.
18 Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one go missing, because I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in deception, in order to eliminate the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, “Proclaim a holy assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it. 21 Then Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a person left who did not come. And when they entered the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 And he said to the one who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the garments for them. 23 Then Jehu entered the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search carefully and see to it that there is here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they entered to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “The one who allows any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange.”
25 Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the royal officers, “Go in, kill them; let none come out.” So they killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw them out, and went to the sanctuary of the house of Baal. 26 They brought out the memorial stones of the house of Baal and burned them. 27 They also tore down the memorial stone of Baal and tore down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine as it is to this day.
28 So Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel. 29 However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, into which he misled Israel, from these Jehu did not desist, including the golden calves that were at Bethel and at Dan. 30 Yet the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in performing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with everything that was in My heart, your sons to 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; he did not desist from the sins of Jeroboam, into which he misled Israel.
32 In those days the Lord began to cut off pieces from Israel; and Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites; from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan.
34 Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehu and everything that he did and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 35 And Jehu lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz became king in his place. 36 So the time which Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 13 Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Protect, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.
1 Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.”
2 “Dispute with your mother, dispute,
Because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;
But she must remove her infidelity from her face
And her adultery from between her breasts,
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day she was born.
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land,
And put her to death with thirst.
4 Also, I will take no pity on her children,
Because they are children of infidelity.
5 For their mother has committed prostitution;
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6 Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns,
And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
7 And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them;
And she will seek them, but will not find them.
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,
Because it was better for me then than now!’
8 “Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
And lavished on her silver and gold,
Which they used for Baal.
9 Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time
And My new wine in its season.
I will also take away My wool and My flax
That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10 So now I will uncover her lewdness
Before the eyes of her lovers,
And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11 I will also put an end to all her joy,
Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,
And all her festivals.
12 And I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution
Which my lovers have given me.’
And I will turn them into a forest,
And the animals of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her for the days of the Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to them
And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
14 “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her,
Bring her into the wilderness,
And speak kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.
And she will respond there as in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord,
“That you will call Me my husband
And no longer call Me my Baal.
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
So that they will no longer be mentioned by their names.
18 On that day I will also make a covenant for them
With the animals of the field,
The birds of the sky,
And the crawling things of the ground.
And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
And will let them lie down in safety.
19 I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,
In favor and in compassion,
20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.
Then you will know the Lord.
21 “And it will come about on that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord.
“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22 And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil,
And they will respond to Jezreel.
23 I will sow her for Myself in the land.
I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,
And I will say to those who were not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
97 How I love Your Law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever mine.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than those who are old,
Because I have complied with Your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
So that I may keep Your word.
102 I have not turned aside from Your judgments,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 From Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and I will confirm it,
That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am exceedingly afflicted;
Revive me, Lord, according to Your word.
108 Be pleased to accept the voluntary offerings of my mouth, Lord,
And teach me Your judgments.
109 My life is continually in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your Law.
110 The wicked have set a trap for me,
Yet I have not wandered from Your precepts.
111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever,
For they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even to the end.
113 I hate those who are double-minded,
But I love Your Law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I wait for Your word.
115 Leave me, you evildoers,
So that I may comply with the commandments of my God.
116 Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Sustain me so that I may be safe,
That I may have regard for Your statutes continually.
118 You have rejected all those who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is useless.
119 You have removed all the wicked of the earth like impurities;
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles from the fear of You,
And I am afraid of Your judgments.
