²¹ ‘Behold, ^(A)I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your ^(B)posterity, and will cut off from Ahab ^(C)every male in Israel, both ^(D)bond and free.

¹⁰ therefore behold! ^(A)I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and ^(B)will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, ^(C)bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone.

²⁶ For the Lord ^(A)saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; and whether bond or free, ^(B)there was no helper for Israel.

³⁰ And the Lord ^(A)said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, ^(B)your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”

¹⁷ And when he came to Samaria, ^(A)he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord ^(B)which He spoke to Elijah.

¹¹ So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Ahaziah’s Forty-two Brothers Killed

¹² And he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way, at ^[a]Beth Eked of the Shepherds, ^13 (A)Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?”

So they answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah; we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.”

¹⁴ And he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them alive, and ^(B)killed them at the well of ^[b]Beth Eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.

Ahab’s Seventy Sons Killed

10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of ^[a]Jezreel, to the elders, and to ^[b]those who reared Ahab’s sons, saying:

⁴ But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Look, ^(A)two kings could not ^[d]stand up to him; how then can we stand?” ⁵ And he who was in charge of the house, and he who was in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, we will do all you tell us; but we will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your sight.” ⁶ Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying:

Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. ⁷ So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and ^(B)slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.

⁷ You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may ^(A)avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, ^(B)at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and ^(C)I will cut off from Ahab all ^(D)the males in Israel, both ^(E)bond and free. ⁹ So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of ^(F)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of ^(G)Baasha the son of Ahijah.

³⁴ For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has ^(A)kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely ^(B)by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!”