2 Kings 10:1-11

Evangelical Heritage Version

Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family

10 Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, so Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, that is, to the officials of Samaria,^[a] the elders, and to the guardians appointed by Ahab, saying, ² “Now, when this letter comes to you, since you have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons, ³ choose the best and most upright of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.”

⁴ They were terrified and said, “Look, two kings could not stand before him, so how can we?”

⁵ Then the palace administrator, the ruler of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do everything you tell us. We will not make any man king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.”

⁶ Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at this time tomorrow in Jezre’el.”

Now the king’s seventy sons were with the leaders of the city who were raising them. ⁷ When the letter came, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy of them. Then they put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezre’el. ⁸ When the messenger arrived, he said, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance to the gate until morning.”

⁹ When morning came, he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. Indeed I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? ¹⁰ Know, therefore, that nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab, will fail. For the Lord did what he said through his servant Elijah.”

¹¹ Then Jehu killed everyone who remained from the house of Ahab in Jezre’el and all his important people, his close friends, and his priests, so that no survivor was left to him.