2 Kings 10:1–14

¹And Ahab hath seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writeth letters, and sendeth to Samaria, unto the heads of Jezreel, the elders, and unto the supporters of Ahab, saying, ²‘And now, at the coming in of this letter unto you, and with you are sons of your lord, and with you are the chariots and the horses, and a fenced city, and the armour, ³and ye have seen the best and the uprightest of the sons of your lord, and have set him on the throne of his father, and fight ye for the house of your lord.’ ⁴And they fear very greatly, and say, ‘Lo, the two kings have not stood before him, and how do we stand—we?’ ⁵And he who is over the house, and he who is over the city, and the elders, and the supporters, send unto Jehu, saying, ‘Thy servants we are, and all that thou sayest unto us we do; we do not make any one king—that which is good in thine eyes do.’ ⁶And he writeth unto them a letter a second time, saying, ‘If ye are for me, and to my voice are hearkening, take the heads of the men—the sons of your lord, and come unto me about this time to-morrow, to Jezreel;’ and the sons of the king are seventy men, with the great ones of the city those bringing them up. ⁷And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the letter unto them, that they take the sons of the king, and slaughter seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and send unto him to Jezreel, ⁸and the messenger cometh in, and declareth to him, saying, ‘They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king,’ and he saith, ‘Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate till the morning.’ ⁹And it cometh to pass in the morning, that he goeth out, and standeth, and saith unto all the people, ‘Righteous are ye; lo, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him—and who smote all these? ¹⁰Know ye now, that nothing doth fall of the word of Jehovah to the earth that Jehovah spake against the house of Ahab, and Jehovah hath done that which He spake by the hand of His servant Elijah.’ ¹¹And Jehu smiteth all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, till he hath not left to him a remnant. ¹²And he riseth, and cometh in and goeth to Samaria; he is at the shepherds’ shearing-house in the way, ¹³and Jehu hath found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and saith, ‘Who are ye?’ and they say, ‘Brethren of Ahaziah we are, and we go down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the mistress.’ ¹⁴And he saith, ‘Catch them alive;’ and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty and two men, and he hath not left a man of them.