Jehu

1Then the LORD gave a message to Jehu, the son of Hanani. It was against King Baasha.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,

NoteA message from the LORD came to a prophet. A prophet is someone who tells people what God says. This Jehu is not the same as the later King Jehu.

2God said, "I lifted you out of the dirt. I made you the leader of my people Israel. But you have lived the same bad way Jeroboam did. You led my people Israel into sin. Their sins have made me angry.

Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;

NoteJeroboam was the first king of Israel after the country split in two. He made statues of golden calves and told people to bow down to them. Later kings who copied him are said to walk "in the way of Jeroboam."

3So I will sweep away Baasha and his whole family. I will do to your family what I did to Jeroboam's family.

Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Note"House" here does not mean a building. It means a person's whole family, including children and grandchildren.

4Dogs will eat anyone in Baasha's family who dies in the city. Birds will eat anyone who dies out in the fields."

Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.

NoteBack then, being buried was very important to people. To be left outside for animals was the saddest, most shameful end anyone could think of.

5The other things Baasha did, and how strong he was, are written down. They are in the book called the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

NoteKings kept big record books about everything they did. That book is lost now. The Bible often points to it instead of repeating the whole story.

6Then Baasha died, like his fathers before him. He was buried in the town of Tirzah. His son Elah became king after him.

So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.

NoteThe King James says Baasha "slept with his fathers." That was a gentle way of saying he died, like his family before him.

7The LORD had sent that message through the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani. The message was against Baasha and his family. It came because of all the evil Baasha did. He made God angry with the things he made and did. He acted just like Jeroboam's family. He had also killed off Jeroboam's family.

And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.

NoteA prophet is someone who tells people what God says.

8Asa was king of Judah. In his twenty-sixth year, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel. He ruled from Tirzah for two years.

In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.

NoteIsrael had split into two countries with two kings. The north was called Israel. The south was called Judah. Writers marked time by saying which year of the other king's rule it was.

9One of Elah's own officers turned against him. His name was Zimri, and he led half the king's chariots. Elah was in Tirzah at the house of Arza, who ran the palace. Elah was there getting drunk.

And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.

NoteA chariot was a small cart pulled by horses. Soldiers rode in chariots to fight. Zimri was in charge of half the king's chariots.

10Zimri walked in, struck Elah down, and killed him. This was in Asa's twenty-seventh year as king of Judah. Then Zimri became king in Elah's place.

And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.

11As soon as Zimri sat on the throne, he killed Baasha's whole family. He did not leave one man alive, not a relative and not a friend.

And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.

NoteA new king sometimes killed the old king's whole family. He did it so no relative could grow up and take the throne back.

12So Zimri destroyed Baasha's whole family. This happened just as the LORD had said through the prophet Jehu.

Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

13It happened because of the sins of Baasha and his son Elah. They sinned, and they led Israel to sin too. They made the LORD, the God of Israel, angry with their worthless idols.

For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

NoteAn idol is a statue people bowed down to and called a god. The word "vanities" in the King James means things that are empty and cannot help anyone.

1Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, got home safely. He went back to his house in Jerusalem.

And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

NoteJudah was a small country where God's people lived. Jerusalem was its main city, and the king lived there. Just before this, the king had gone away to fight in a battle.

2Jehu, the son of Hanani, was a seer. That means God showed him things and he told people. Jehu went out to meet the king. He said, "Should you help wicked people? Should you love people who hate the LORD? Because you did, the LORD is angry with you.

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

NoteIn the King James Bible, LORD in big letters stands for God's own special name. A seer was a kind of prophet. God showed him things, and he told people what he saw. The wicked people here were King Ahab and his army. Jehoshaphat had gone to help them fight.

3Still, there is some good in you. You took the Asherah poles out of the land. Those poles were used to worship false gods. And you have made up your mind to look for God."

Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

NoteThe King James calls these poles "groves." They were tall wooden poles people set up in the ground. People bowed to them to honor a pretend goddess named Asherah.

34The other things Jehoshaphat did, from start to finish, are written down. They are in the records of Jehu son of Hanani. Those records are part of the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

NoteThis was an old record book that kept lists of what kings did. We do not have that book anymore.