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Jehu: The Butcher King · The Chosen People

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: I have a message for Jehu. A message from the Lord.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: But it's for your ears only. You are to destroy
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: the house of Ahab, your master. You will bring vengeance
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: for the blood of the prophets and the servants of
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: the Lord shed by Jezebel's hand.
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: Ready my chariot. It's time for judgment day.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Jehu had never felt more alive. Today was the day
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: of atonement. Today, blood would flow like the Nile River.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: Flee! Flee for your lives! Get us out of here!
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: This.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: this is madness.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: The king of Judah toppled from his chariot, hitting the
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: ground with a sickening thud.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: Now, it's time to cut the head off the snake.
• 0:58
  Speaker 5: Jezebel.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Then, unceremoniously, Jehu walked away and stepped onto his chariot.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: He gripped the reins and drove forward, directly over Jezebel's body.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Over and over.
• 1:15
  Speaker 6: My lord, has the will of the lord been fulfilled?
• 1:19
  Speaker 6: Have we finished what was commanded of us?
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Jehu turned to him with a smile that was equal
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: parts zeal and madness. his voice steady, as though the
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: question itself were laughably naive.
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: Finished!
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Oh, no, no!
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: No, no. For the family of Ahab. Judgment.
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: Judgment day.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: It's just... Oh, it's just begun.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: The sun was bleeding itself out across the western sky,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: turning the hills to rust and the clouds to bruises.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: The horses pulled hard, their flanks foamed and streaked with
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: dust and red. Jehu stood tall in the chariot, one
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: hand on the reins, the other clenched around a jawbone
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: he hadn't realized he was still holding. The grin on
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: his face had not moved in hours. frozen somewhere between
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: euphoria and exorcism. Behind him, the wind tore his cloak
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: like it wanted him naked before God. And then, a
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: man caught Jehu's eye. He was off the roadside trail,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: where the stones gave way to a grove of terebinths.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: It was Jehonadab, the holy man, bent in prayer, still, cloaked, serene.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: He looked like he belonged to another age or at
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: least another kind of story, the kind where people are
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: holy and stay that way. He knelt in the dirt
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: with quiet confidence. He didn't hear the chariot at first.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: He didn't smell the iron or the horses or the
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: war god grinning behind them. But then came the voice.
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: You there! Holy man!
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab turned, startled. His brow was furrowed, eyes adjusting to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the spectacle. There, framed in sunset and madness, stood Jehu, bare-chested,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: splattered in blood, wheels still dripping with Jezebel. The wind
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: howled as if trying to drag him down into Sheol.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: Are you Jehonadab, son of Rechab, devout among men? Voice
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: in the wilderness, camel hair in a world of silk?
• 3:59
  Speaker 6: Ah, yes, that would be me.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: Good, good.
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: Come, climb up, brother. You shall be the heir unto
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: my Moses. Let us thunder like Sinai together. Come, ride
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: with Jehu, your new king.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab stood, dusting off his robe in a daze. He
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: had heard the rumors of Jehu. The man was like
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: a holy ghost wrenched into the wrong story. blinking at
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: the sudden invitation into a war wagon. But there was
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: something electric in Jehu's voice, some terrible magnetism, the kind
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: of calling that makes your bones rattle even as your
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: conscience runs screaming.
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: Yes, I have heard that you seek to bring order
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: to the land. My heart is with you and with
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: the Lord.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Excellent!
• 4:55
  Speaker 7: Then up!
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: Up, men of God! Let us fire prophets ride together!
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: Let the zeal of Yahweh scorch the earth!
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: The chariot groaned as Jehonadab climbed on board. The ride
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: lurched forward, wheels screaming, hooves pounding the dust like war drums.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: For a moment, the monk looked exhilarated, eyes wide as
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: the plains tore past them, the wind catching in his
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: beard like banners of old.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: You see it, don't you?
• 5:25
  Speaker 8: The rot.
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: The stench of Ahab's legacy choking the land. His son
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: suckling idolatry from the cracked breast of Jezebel's ghost. And we, brother,
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: we are the axe laid.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: At the root of the tree.
• 5:42
  Speaker 8: Yes, yes.
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: Righteousness must reign. The Lord must be feared again.
• 5:50
  Speaker 7: Oh, he shall, my friend, he shall.
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: Come, now is the time for revolution. Ride beside me.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: Witness what it means to cleanse a kingdom.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab said nothing, but the grip he held on the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: chariot rail tightened until his knuckles went white. They arrived
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: in Jezreel just as the town was exhaling its dusk prayers.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Word had already spread of Jehu's slaughter. The gates did
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: not need opening. They had been flung wide the day before,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: and no one had dared shut them since. Jehu addressed
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the crowd like a prophet. The people gathered, nervous, whispering, wide-eyed.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Jehu looked like a hero of old, but he was
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: truly terrifying.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: People of Israel, look upon me and know the Lord
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: has kept his promise. The house of Ahab is falling
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: like a dung heap set ablaze.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: But the question remains....
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: He paced before them, arms spread wide, his voice now lower,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: teasing as though he were savoring a secret.
• 7:16
  Speaker 9: What.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: shall be done with the remnants, the sons of that
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: cursed house, seventy of them, crawling through Samaria like maggots
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: in a dying ox.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Gasps, murmurs, Jehonadab tensed beside him, brows tightening.
• 7:38
  Speaker 7: Shall we burn them alive? Toss their mothers to the jackals?
• 7:45
  Speaker 7: Shall we salt their fields and teach their children the
• 7:48
  Speaker 7: taste of ashes?
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: Or perhaps a letter, a firm, godly letter, my king.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Jehu turned, eyes twinkling. He clapped the monk on the
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: back so hard it nearly knocked the wind from him.
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: Yes, a letter, yes. A scroll dipped in wisdom and
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: sealed with dread. Let us begin with that.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: The message arrived by courier before dusk. Jehu stood beneath
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the gate where Jezebel had painted her face and cracked
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: her skull. The same gate. The crowd gathered again, drawn
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: like moths to prophecy. Or maybe just to blood.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Hmm.
• 8:39
  Speaker 8: Let's see what they wrote. Dearest Lord Jehu, we are
• 8:45
  Speaker 8: your servants. We will do all you ask. We will
• 8:50
  Speaker 8: not crown another king. You do whatever is good in
• 8:54
  Speaker 8: your eyes.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: He let the scroll fall. It landed in the dust
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: like something rotten.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Spineless worms.
• 9:05
  Speaker 6: That sounds like surrender, Jehu. A victory without blood.
• 9:11
  Speaker 10: Peace.
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: There is no victory without blood. This sounds like men
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: who wait to see which way the sword swings before
• 9:22
  Speaker 5: they kneel. They served me today, but they served Ahab yesterday.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: He turned. A smile crept across his face. It didn't
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: reach his eyes.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: Eyes.
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: Shall send them a stronger letter.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: It was dawn, quiet. The wind rustled the gates of Jezreel.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: The people had returned, not because they were told, but
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: because they sensed something was coming. Jehu stood once again
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: beneath that cursed gate, his eyes on the road, and
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: then they arrived. A line of men, silent, dust-covered, their
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: arms strained beneath the weight of wicker baskets. They did
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: not speak. They placed them gently in a heap at
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: the gate, 70 baskets, and then silence until Jehu gave
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the nod. The cloths were pulled back. Heads, 70 heads,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: the sons of Ahab, row upon row of blank stares
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: and congealed blood. Mouths frozen mid-scream, eyes vacant, staring up
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: at the same sky their father once defiled. The crowd recoiled.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: A child wailed. A merchant vomited. Jehonadab could not speak.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: He could not breathe. His lips moved, but no sound came.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Jehu only nodded, slowly, satisfied.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: You.
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: You told them to do this? I told them what
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: I'd do to them if they didn't.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: He stepped forward, lifted one of the heads by the hair,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: and turned to the crowd.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: Let all who pass through this gate remember. This is
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: what obedience looks like.
• 11:38
  Speaker 9: You.
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: You didn't have to do it this way.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: No, I didn't.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: That's what makes it obedience.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: He turned to the people, arms raised again.
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: People of Israel, see how God fulfills his word. Not
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: one prophecy falls to the ground. The house of Ahab
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: is no more. Look, the sons of rebellion lie in silence.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: He pointed to the heads as if they were trophies
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: instead of butchered royals.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: Let all who live under heaven know to defy Yahweh
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: is to be forgotten and to follow him, to follow
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: him is to ride with me.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: The crowd cheered, but it was a hesitant cheer sharpened
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: by fear. Jehonadab stood still beside the chariot, and for
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the first time since climbing aboard, he did not answer
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: when Jehu called him brother. By the time the sun
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: rose again, the blood had dried on the city gates
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: of Jezreel. Flies swarmed the heads. Jehu wiped the sleep
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: from his eyes with the same unwashed hand that had
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: held his sword the night before and turned towards Samaria.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: There were still embers smouldering in Ahab's dynasty and he
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: meant to stomp out every last one with the heel
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: of divine wrath. The road to Samaria was long, straight
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: and blessedly empty until it wasn't. Jehu and his men
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: arrived in Beth-Aked, the Binding House. It was an old
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: shepherd's stop turned ghost town after the wars. Jehu slowed
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: the chariot there, letting the dust settle just enough to
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: reveal the figures walking up the road toward them. Dozens
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: of drunken nobles stumbled through the town. Jehonadab sat up
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: straighter and squinted.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: What's this now? Pilgrims?
• 14:03
  Speaker 6: Perhaps a caravan of worshippers returning from sacrifice.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: The crowd neared. The tallest among them waved with the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: ease of a man unaware he's about to enter a
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: completely different genre of story.
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: Shalom, travelers.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Fine morning, eh?
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: We're heading to Jezreel, gathering the royal house.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Uncles, cousins, sons of Ahaziah. A feast awaits.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Jehu's face lit up like God had just handed him
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: a wrapped gift.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: A family reunion, you say? That's splendid! I bring gifts
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: for the house of Ahijah.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: The men laughed and clapped each other on the backs.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Jehu stepped off the chariot, stretched his arms like he
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: was about to give a toast, then, with the grace
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: of a dancer, pulled his sword.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: In one smooth motion.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Jehu decapitated the man with a single swipe. The man's
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: head fell to the ground with a sickening thud as
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: blood gushed from his neck like a fountain. For a moment,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: there was only silence. One of the younger men opened
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: his mouth to scream, but Jehu's dagger flew before the
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: sound came, lodging itself in the man's eye. The others
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: scattered like a herd of startled cows, stumbling about. Jehu
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: vaulted back onto his chariot, grabbed his bow and let
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: off three arrows in quick succession. One through an eye,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: one through a mouth mid-scream, and one that went clean
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: through two men trying to run away, skewering them like
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: figs on a spit. Jehonadab stared, horrified. as Jehu spun
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the horses in a circle, driving straight into the fleeing
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: crowd and leaping off mid-turn to slam a hatchet into
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: the skull of a man trying to climb a tree.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: The well ran red before the last body hit the earth.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Jehu's loyal soldiers were quick to join the fray, and
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: within moments, the entire company of would-be party-goers was slain. 42?
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: That was 42 people?
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Ahijah had quite the family tree. I just pruned it.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: They were unarmed. They weren't even fighting you. It's all
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: the same to me.
• 16:38
  Speaker 7: They fought with their bloodlines. Same as Ahab, same as Jezebel.
• 16:43
  Speaker 7: The axe is laid to the root, brother. The axe
• 16:46
  Speaker 7: does not ask the tree if it's ready.
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: It simply strikes.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: He was learning, slowly, tragically. Samaria was the final stage.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Jehu rode in slowly. The people lined the streets, afraid
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: to cheer, too afraid not to. The banners of Ahab
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: still hung limp from the palace walls. Jehu barely looked
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: at them. Then the purge began. It was less a
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: massacre and more a ballet of horror. Jehu moved like
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: a man possessed. His bow sang with every drawstring, arrows
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: streaking into eyes, throats, hearts. He kicked in the door
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: of a royal merchant's home and beheaded three sons with
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: one swing before turning to the father and asking if
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: he'd ever dined at Ahab's table.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: He had.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Jehu's sword replied. He caught a fleeing steward by the
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: collar and dragged him screaming into the street, tossing him
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: through a window and following with a spear through the
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: man's gut as he landed. Blood painted the walls of
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: the city like murals. A man cried out, but I
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: only sold sandals to his cousins. Jehu didn't answer. He
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: just severed the man's feet with his axe and kept walking.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: By the end of the day, smoke rose from half
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: the buildings in Samaria. The gutters overflowed with crimson. And
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: somewhere in the smoke, Jehu stood smiling. breathing hard, arms
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: slick with gore, his eyes glittering like broken glass.
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: You were supposed to cleanse the land. You've salted it.
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: I did what Elijah couldn't.
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: I finished the story.
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: This isn't holiness.
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: This is madness.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: Madness? No....
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: This is judgment.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: And with that, Jehu dismounted his chariot and stormed into
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: the inner courts of the palace. More carnage awaited him.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab realized at that moment Jehu was possessed by something
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: other than righteous fury. The gates of the temple swung
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: open with all the ceremony of a royal wedding. Trumpets blaring,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: banners fluttering, sun gleaming down on polished stones scrubbed clean
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: of the last regime's blood. Jehu had orchestrated it all
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: with theatrical flair, a messianic charlatan playing prophet, priest and
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: king in the same bloodstained robe. Word had spread fast,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Israel's new king had converted. Not only converted, but reformed.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Jehu was throwing a festival for Baal. A grand one,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: bigger than Ahab's, more zealous, more devout, and the people
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: came in droves. They came in robes and jewels, with
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: sacrifices and flutes, incense and cymbals. Baal's priests arrived first,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: strutting like roosters. Then the devotees, the temple dancers, the
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: money changers, the priests of lesser idols. They packed into
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: the temple like sheep crowding a pen, singing their praises
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: to Baal, to Molech, to Asherah, to every rusted god
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: who'd ever whispered false power into the wind. Jehu played
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: his part to perfection. He stood at the front and
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: danced before the altar. The crowd went wild. Priests threw
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: flower petals. Women screamed their delight. Jehonadab watched from the shadows,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: stomach churning.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: My beautiful Balwites! What a day! What a gathering! What
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: a temple full of glory!
• 21:29
  Speaker 7: You look like a holy wildfire dressed in silk.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: And why have we gathered?
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: To honor the god of gods, the storm singer, the
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: bull rider, the seed giver, Baal. Yes, Baal, whose voice
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: is thunder and whose breath brings rain.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: Am I right? Ahab served Baal, oh yes.
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: But only as a servant serves a feast he cannot taste. I,
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: I am a lover of Baal.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: I worship him with fire in my lungs and dancing
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: in my bones.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: Baal!
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: Who blesses the fertile wounds, who sends crops in, give
• 22:32
  Speaker 7: or take a season.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: Baal, whose temple was filled with.
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: Beauty, incense, music, and the occasional child sacrifice, but tradition,
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: am I right?
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Tradition, oh.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: More laughter, applause. One of the priests clapped a little
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: too hard, not yet noticing the poison in the punch.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: Ball, who never asked too much. Just your loyalty, your worship,
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: your sons, your daughters, your everything.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: The crowd murmured in agreement, still nodding, but with less
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: enthusiasm now.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: And in return, what did he give? Rain.
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: Sometimes victory. On occasion, cattle that didn't miscarry. If you begged,
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: if you bowed, if you bled.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: The laughter began to falter, confusion stirring just beneath the surface.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Jehu tilted his head.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: Horrible.
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: Poor Baal, he needs so much, doesn't he? Blood, applause, affirmation.
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: Like a God-sized child throwing a tantrum if you forgot
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: to light the candle.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: Just, just right. Oh, we're so close.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Nervous laughter now. A few began glancing at each other.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab's eyes widened.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: Oh, how generous we had to be, Ball.
• 24:24
  Speaker 7: How often we reminded him we loved him, lest he
• 24:28
  Speaker 7: sulk in his storm clouds and withhold the rain again.
• 24:34
  Speaker 7: That's why we let children bleed on his altars, right?
• 24:39
  Speaker 7: That's why we tossed women into the fire, because.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: Ball comes first. Ball knows best.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: The room stiffened.
• 24:52
  Speaker 10: Ball.
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: Ball.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Does nothing but take.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: He took one step forward. The torches dimmed.
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: But the Lord, God of Israel, Yahweh, He.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: Stillness, a ripple of dread passed through the temple.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: He does not hunger. He does not pout.
• 25:34
  Speaker 7: He does not dance for your attention. He does not beg.
• 25:38
  Speaker 7: He does not barter. He is not entertained by your flutes.
• 25:44
  Speaker 7: He is not fooled by your chants. He's not amused
• 25:48
  Speaker 7: by your harlots. The Lord is a giver. And today
• 25:57
  Speaker 7: he will give. And today he gives judgment.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Jehu's guards shut the doors. The people screamed and hands
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: pounded against sealed exits. The crowd surged like cattle sensing
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the slaughterhouse, and Jehu drew his blade. He leapt from
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: the altar like a lion unchained, his shadow cast like
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: a dagger across the stone.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: This is your feast, Maelites! Drink deeply!
• 26:36
  Speaker 10: The wine is blood! The bread is judgment!
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: It was not a battle. It was slaughter. He cut
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: one priest down through the shoulder, spun, drove his elbow
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: into another's nose, flung a dagger across the crowd into
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: the throat of a dancer, then shoved a pillar over
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: to crush three as they fled. His men followed in
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: screaming waves, blades flashing, blood spraying like perfume offered to
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: a god who no longer accepted their kind of worship.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: This is the Feast of Ball!
• 27:14
  Speaker 10: Eat your fill, oh dogs of idolatry! It is a
• 27:21
  Speaker 10: festival of fire and truth!
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: He grabbed a priest trying to crawl under a bench
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: and dragged him into the open by his ankle.
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: Where is your god now? Asleep in his tomb, attending
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: to the needs of his bowels.
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: Or perhaps.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: The sword swung. His head fell.
• 27:48
  Speaker 11: Perhaps Baal never existed at all. Except in the minds
• 27:58
  Speaker 11: of selfish and self-gratifying men.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: The temple of Baal burned like a sacrifice. the smoke
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: curling into a sky that refused to weep. Jehu sat
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: on a broken throne nearby. His sword rested beside him
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: like a satisfied hound. Jehonadab, shaking, stepped over a corpse
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: and approached slowly, as if the wrong movement might trigger
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: another spree. And then he stopped.
• 28:32
  Speaker 6: What are you doing?
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: There he was, the king of Israel, squatting, tunic pulled up,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: proudly relieving himself atop the shattered remains of Baal's altar.
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: Mark this, Jehondad. This temple is no longer for worship.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: He stood, wiped himself with the hem of a Baal
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: priest's robe, and tossed it aside.
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: From this day forth, let all Israel know the temple
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: of Baal is a latrine.
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: A house of waste. An altar to dung.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: And so it was. Jehonadab turned away, his soul torn
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: between awe and horror. Somewhere deep inside him, a voice whispered,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: He's gone too far. But louder still was another voice,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: deeper and darker, that whispered back, No, he's just getting started.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: And outside, No. fire burned on years had passed the
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: fire was gone the sword sheathed the heads buried or
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: rotted into the earth Jehu's reign limped toward its end,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: not with trumpets, but with bureaucracy. Golden calves still stood
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: in Bethel and Dan, polished like heirlooms no one remembered
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: the origin of. He had done evil in the sight
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: of Yahweh, and everyone knew it. Time had not broken Jehu,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: just hollowed him. His throne still stood in Samaria, surrounded
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: by the very idols he once burned cities to erase.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: The golden calves of Jeroboam gleamed in the high places.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: The revolution was over. The rot returned, and Jehu sat
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: in a stone courtyard that stank of old oil and
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: older regret. The sun no longer bowed to him. That's
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: when Jehonadab returned. Thinner now. Wrinkled, yes, but unbroken. He
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: stood like a column in the ruins.
• 30:54
  Speaker 5: I was told you were dead. Turns out it was
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: just wishful thinking.
• 30:59
  Speaker 6: I came to see what's left of the men I
• 31:03
  Speaker 6: once rode beside.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab looked around him and released a sigh. Jehu had
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: become the very thing he swore to destroy.
• 31:14
  Speaker 6: You didn't serve the Lord, Jehu, not really. You served
• 31:18
  Speaker 6: your rage. You heard the call of heaven and used
• 31:23
  Speaker 6: to feed the fire in your own gut.
• 31:26
  Speaker 9: You wore his name like a blade, but it was
• 31:29
  Speaker 9: your own thirst you were quenching. You were supposed to
• 31:33
  Speaker 9: be the Lord's instrument, but it turns out you were
• 31:36
  Speaker 9: just a man who loved the sound of his own sword.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Jehu said nothing. because there was nothing left to say.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Jehonadab turned and walked away. Jehu didn't call him back.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: He reigned for 28 years in Samaria. He tore down
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Baal and bowed to a golden lie, because zeal without
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: obedience isn't faith, it's ego wearing the robes of righteousness.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: The sun kept setting. And the king sat alone, with
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: nothing but idols for company and the echo of a
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: voice that once called him brother. Steve Gatina, Max Bard,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Zach Schelleberger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher and Mitch Lashinsky.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: rate and leave a review.