2 Kings 9:24–10:11

²⁴And Jehu ^†drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he ^†sunk down in his chariot. ²⁵Then said Jehu to Bidkar his ^ecaptain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode ^ftogether after Ahab his father, ^gthe Lord laid this ^hburden upon him; ²⁶Surely I have seen yesterday the ^†blood of Naboth, and the ^†blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and ^gI will requite thee in this ^||plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the ^||plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.

²⁷But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. ⁱAnd they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by ⁱIbleam. ^*And he fled to ^||Megiddo, and died there. ²⁸And his servants ^jcarried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. ²⁹And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began ^||Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

^30*And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she ^k†painted her face, and tired her head, and ^llooked out at a window. ³¹And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had ^mZimri peace, who slew his master? ³²And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three ^||eunuchs. ³³And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. ³⁴And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for ⁿshe is a king’s daughter. ³⁵And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. ³⁶Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake ^†by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ^oIn the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: ³⁷And the carcase of Jezebel shall be ^pas dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

10^*And Ahab had seventy sons in ^aSamaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to ^†them that brought up Ahab’s children, saying, ²Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour; ³Look even out the best and meetest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house. ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand? ⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, ^bWe are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes. ⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be ^†mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up. ⁷And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in ^cbaskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. ⁸And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. ⁹And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, ^dI conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these? ¹⁰Know now that there shall ^efall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord hath done that which he spake ^f†by his servant Elijah. ¹¹So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his ^||kinsfolks, and his ^gpriests, until ^hhe left him none remaining.