2 Kings 9:24–10:11

²⁴Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between his shoulders. The arrow went through Joram’s heart, and he fell down in his chariot.

²⁵Jehu ordered Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick up Joram’s body, and throw it into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember when you and I rode together with Joram’s father Ahab. The Lord made this prophecy against him: ²⁶‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons, says the Lord, so I will punish Ahab in his field, says the Lord.’ Take Joram’s body and throw it into the field, as the Lord has said.”

²⁷When Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he ran away toward Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, saying, “Shoot Ahaziah, too!” Ahaziah was wounded in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam. He got as far as Megiddo but died there. ²⁸Ahaziah’s servants carried his body in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in Jerusalem. ²⁹(Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year Joram son of Ahab was king.)

Death of Jezebel

³⁰When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on her eye makeup and fixed her hair. Then she looked out the window. ³¹When Jehu entered the city gate, Jezebel said, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, ⁿ you who killed your master?”

³²Jehu looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three servants looked out the window at Jehu. ³³He said to them, “Throw her down.” So they threw Jezebel down, and the horses ran over her. Some of her blood splashed on the wall and on the horses.

³⁴Jehu went into the house and ate and drank. Then he said, “Now see about this cursed woman. Bury her, because she is a king’s daughter.”

³⁵The men went to bury Jezebel, but they could not find her. They found only her skull, feet, and the palms of her hands. ³⁶When they came back and told Jehu, he said, “The Lord said this through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel at Jezreel. ³⁷Her body will be like manure on the field in the land at Jezreel. No one will be able to say that this is Jezebel.’ ”

Families of Ahab and Ahaziah Killed

10Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officers and elders of Jezreel and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab. Jehu said, ²“You have your master’s sons with you, and you have chariots, horses, a city with strong walls, and weapons. When you get this letter, ³choose the best and most worthy person among your master’s sons, and make him king. Then fight for your master’s family.”

⁴But the officers and leaders of Jezreel were frightened. They said, “Two kings could not stand up to Jehu, so how can we?”

⁵The palace manager, the city governor, the leaders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu. “We are your servants,” they said. “We will do everything you tell us to do. We won’t make any man king, so do whatever you think is best.”

⁶Then Jehu wrote a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, cut off the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.”

Now the seventy sons of the king’s family were with the leading men of the city who were their guardians. ⁷When the leaders received the letter, they took the king’s sons and killed all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. ⁸The messenger came to Jehu and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”

Then Jehu said, “Lay the heads in two piles at the city gate until morning.”

⁹In the morning, Jehu went out and stood before the people and said to them, “You are innocent. Look, I made plans against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? ¹⁰You should know that everything the Lord said about Ahab’s family will come true. The Lord has spoken through his servant Elijah, and the Lord has done what he said.” ¹¹So Jehu killed everyone of Ahab’s family in Jezreel who was still alive. He also killed all Ahab’s leading men, close friends, and priests. No one who had helped Ahab was left alive.