3
see
which is the best and most upright of your master’s sons and set
him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.
4
But they were exceedingly afraid and said, Behold, two kings could not stand before him; how then shall we stand?
5
And he that
was over the house and he that
was over the city, the elders also, and those who had brought up
the children sent to Jehu, saying, We
are thy slaves and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king; thou shalt do
that which is good in thy eyes.
6
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye
are mine and
if ye will hearken unto my voice, take the heads of the male sons of your master and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king’s sons,
being seventy males,
were with the great men of the city, who had brought them up.
7
And when the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slew seventy males and put their heads in baskets and sent him
them to Jezreel.
8
And a messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
9
And in the morning, he went out and stood and said to all the people, Ye
are righteous; behold, I conspired against my master and slew him; but who slew all these?
10
Know now that of the word of the LORD which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, nothing shall fall to the ground, for the LORD has done
that which he spoke by his slave Elijah.
11
So Jehu slew all that had remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and all his kinsfolk and all his priests until he left him none remaining.
12
And he arose and departed and came to Samaria.
And as he
was at a pastor’s shearing house in the way,
13
Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who
are ye? And they answered, We
are the brethren of Ahaziah, and we go down to salute the sons of the king and the sons of the queen.