The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Iehn causeth the. lrx. sonnes of Ahab to be sleyne, and after that. rl••••. of his brethren. He fyndeth a meane also to kyll all the preested of Baall. After his death his sonne reygneth in his st••ade.

CAPI. X.

A Hab had * 1.1 . lxx. Sonnes in Samaria. [unspec A] And Iehu wrote letters & sent to Sa∣maria vnto the rulers of Iezrahell / to the elders, & to them that brought vp Ahabs chyldren, sayenge: nowe when this letter cō∣meth to you, ye that haue with you your may¦sters sonnes, (ye haue with you both charet∣tes & horses: a stronge citye haue ye also, and harnesse) loke whiche of your maysters son∣nes is best & moost mete, and set hym on his fathers seate ☞ and fyght for youre Lordes house. But they were excedynly afrayde, and sayde: se, two kynges were not able to stande before hym, howe shall we then be able to stande? And he that was gouerner of Ahabs house, & he that ruled. the citie, the elders also, and the tutours sent to Iehu, saynge: we are thy seruauntes, & wyll do all that thou shalt byd vs: we wyll make no man kynge: ther∣fore do thou what semeth good in thyne eyes

Then he wrote an other letter to them, say [unspec B] enge: Yf ye be myne, and wyll herken vnto my voyce, then take the heades of the men that are your maysters sonnes, and come to me to Iezrahell by to morow this tyme. And the kynges sonnes were. lxx. personnes, and they were with the greate men of the citye, whiche brought them vp. And when the let∣ter came to them, they toke the kynges chyl∣dren, and slue them, euen. lxx. persons, & layd theyr heades in baskettes, and sent them to hym to Iezrahell▪ And there came a messen∣ger, & tolde hym sayenge: they haue brought the heades of the kyng{is} sonnes. And he sayd: let them laye them on two heapes in the en∣terynge in of the gate, vntyll the mornynge.

And when it was day, he went out, & stode [unspec C] & sayde to all the folke: ye be ryghteous. Be∣holde, I cōspyred agaynst my mayster, & slue hym: But who slue al these? Lerne here, that there shall fal vnto the earth nothyng of the worde of the lorde, which he spake cōcernyng

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the house of Ahab: for the lorde hath brought to passe the thynges that he spake ☞ by the hande of his seruaunte * 1.2 Elia. And so Iehu slue all that remayned of the house of Ahab / in Iezrahell & all that were great with hym / and his kynsfolkes, and his preestes, so that he let nothynge of hym remayne. And he a∣rose, and departed, & came to Samaria. And whe Iehu was in the way to the house where the shepherdes dyd shere theyr shepe, he met with the brethren of Ahaziahu kynge of Iu∣da, and sayde: what are ye? They answerered the brethren of Ahaziahu are we, & go downe to salute the chyldren of the kyng, and of the quene. And he sayd: take them alyue. Whom when they had taken them alyue, they flue them at the well which was besyde the house where the shepe are shorne, euen. xlii. men ney¦ther lefte he any of them. And when he was departed thence, he met with Iehonadab the son of * 1.3 Rechab cōmynge agaynst hym: And ☞ he blessed hym, & sayde to hym: is thyne herte ryght, as myne herte is true w^t thyne?

And Iehonadab answered: yea that it is. ❀ (yf it, be sayeth he) then gyue me thyne [unspec D] hande. And when he had gyuē him his hand, he toke hym vp to hym in to the charet, and sayde: come with me, and se the zeele that I haue for the Lorde, & so they made hym ryde in his charet. And when he came to Sama∣ria, he slue all that remayned vnto Ahab in Samaria / tyll he had wypte hym out, accor∣dynge to the sayenge of the Lorde whiche he spake to Elia. And Iehu gathered al the peo∣ple togyther, & sayde vnto them: * 1.4 Ahab ser∣ued Baall a lytle: But Iehu shall serue hym more. Nowe therfore call vnto me all the pro¦phettes of Baal, all soche as serue hym, & all his preestes and let none be lackynge. For I haue a great sacrifyce to do to Baall: & ther∣fore, whosoeuer is myssed, he shall not lyue.

But Iehu dyd it for a subteltye, to the in [unspec E] tent that he myght destroye the seruauntes of Baall. And Iehu sayd: Proclayme an ho∣ly conuocaeyō for Baall, and Iehu sent vn∣to all Israell. And all the seruaūtes of Baal came, that there was not a man lefte behynd that came not. And they came into the house of Baall, & the house of Baall was ful from one ende to an other. And he sayde vnto hym that was the keper of the vestrey, brynge forth garmentes for all the seruaūtes of Ba∣all. And he brought them out garment{is}. And when Iehu went with Iehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of Baall, he sayde vn∣to the seruauntes of Baall: searche and loke, that there be here with you none of the ser∣uauntes of the Lorde, but the seruauntes of Baall only. And when they went in to offre sacrifyce & burntofferyng{is}, Iehu appoynted lxxx. men without, & sayde: Yf any of the men whome I haue brought vnder your handes, escape, he that letteth hym go, shall dye for hym. And it fortuned, that as soone as he had made an ende of offeryng the burntsacrifyce, Iehu sayde to the men of war, & to the cap∣taynes: go in: & sley them, let none come out.

And they smote them with the edge of the swerde. And the men of war & the captaynes [unspec F] cast them out & went vnto the ••••••e of the tem¦ple of Baall, & fet the ymages out of the tem∣ple of Baall, & burnt them. And they brake the ymage of Baall, & brake the house of Ba∣all, & made a draft house of it vnto this ••aye. And so Iehu destroyed Baall out of Israel. But from the synn{is} of Ieroboam the son of Nebat (which made Israell to syn: Iehu de¦parted not, neyther frō folowynge of them ❀ (neyther forsoke he) ❀ the golden calues that were in Bethell & in Dan. And the lorde sayde vnto Iehu: bycause y^• hast done ryght well, in bryngyng to passe, the thynge that is ryght in myne eyes, and hast done vnto the house of Ahab accordynge to all thyng{is}, that are in myne herte, therfore shall * 1.5 thy Chyl∣dren vnto the fourth generacyon, syt on the seat of Israell. But Iehu cared not for this, to walke in the law of the lorde god of Isra∣ell [unspec G] with all his herte: for he departed not frō the synn{is} of Ieroboā, whiche made Israel to syn. ❀ In those dayes the lorde began to cu•• Israel shorte, & * 1.6 Hazael smote them in al the coostes of Israell, from Iordan Eastwarde: euen all the lande of Gilead, the Gad••tes, the Rubenites, & them that were of Manasses / from Aroer vnto the ryuer of Arnon: euen Gilead & Basan. The rest of the wordes that concerne Iehu, & all that he dyd / and all his powre, are they not wrytten in the boke of the Cronicles of the kyng{is} of Israell? And Ie∣hu slepte with his fathers, and they buryed him in Samaria, & Iehoahaz his son reygned in his steade. And the tyme that Iehu reyg∣ned vpon Israel in Samaria, is. xxviii. yeres.