One Year Bible.

Ahab’s Seventy Sons Killed

¹Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying: ²“When this letter arrives, since your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weaponry, ³select the best and most worthy son of your master, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”

⁴But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?”

⁵So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.”

⁶Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”

Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city. ⁷And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

⁸When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.”

And Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

⁹The next morning, Jehu went out and stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? ¹⁰Know, then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail, for the LORD has done what He promised through His servant Elijah.”

¹¹So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his great men and close friends and priests, leaving him without a single survivor.

¹²Then Jehu set out toward Samaria. At Beth-eked of the Shepherds, ¹³Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”

“We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered, “and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”

¹⁴Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So his men took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked— forty-two men. He spared none of them.

¹⁵When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?”

“It is!” Jehonadab replied.

“If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.”

So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot, ¹⁶saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.

¹⁷When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down everyone belonging to Ahab who remained there, until he had destroyed them, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to Elijah.

Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal

¹⁸Then Jehu brought all the people together and said, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. ¹⁹Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. See that no one is missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.”

But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

²⁰And Jehu commanded, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they announced it.

²¹Then Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; there was not a man who failed to show. They entered the temple of Baal, and it was filled from end to end.

²²And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them.

²³Next, Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around to see that there are no servants of the LORD here among you— only servants of Baal.”

²⁴And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.”

²⁵When he had finished making the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them. Do not let anyone out.”

So the guards and officers put them to the sword, threw the bodies out, and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal.

²⁶They brought out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it. ²⁷They also demolished the sacred pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine, which it is to this day.

Jehu Repeats Jeroboam’s Sins

²⁸Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel, ²⁹but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit— the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

³⁰Nevertheless, 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.”

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

³²In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory ³³from the Jordan eastward through all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh), and from Aroer by the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan.

Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu in Israel

³⁴As for the rest of the acts of Jehu, along with all his accomplishments and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

³⁵And Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place. ³⁶So the duration of Jehu’s reign over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Reproof and Respect

¹Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as to a father.

Treat younger men as brothers, ²older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Honoring True Widows

³Honor the widows who are truly widows. ⁴But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show godliness to their own family and repay their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

⁵The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers. ⁶But she who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still alive.

⁷Give these instructions to the believers, so that they will be above reproach. ⁸If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹A widow should be enrolled if she is at least sixty years old, faithful to her husband, ¹⁰and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.

¹¹But refuse to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they will want to marry, ¹²and thus will incur judgment because they are setting aside their first faith. ¹³At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.

¹⁴So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander. ¹⁵For some have already turned aside to follow Satan.

¹⁶If any believing woman has dependent widows, she must assist them and not allow the church to be burdened, so that it can help the widows who are truly in need.

Honoring Elders

¹⁷Elders who lead effectively are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

¹⁹Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁰But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.

A Charge to Timothy

²¹I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality.

²²Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴The sins of some men are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others do not surface until later. ²⁵In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even the ones that are inconspicuous cannot remain hidden.

To the Church in Sardis

¹“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of the One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. ²Wake up and strengthen what remains, which is about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. ³Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

⁴But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. ⁵Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

⁶He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

⁸I know your deeds. Behold, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. ⁹As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

¹⁰Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹²The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.

¹³He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.

¹⁵I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! ¹⁶So because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!

¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

²²He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”