⁷ When the leaders received the letter, they took the king’s sons and ·killed [slaughtered] all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. ⁸ The messenger came to Jehu and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”

Then Jehu said, “·Lay [Pile] the heads in two ·piles [heaps] at the city gate until morning.”

⁹ In the morning, Jehu went out and stood before the people and said to them, “You are innocent. Look, I ·made plans [conspired; plotted] against my ·master [lord] and killed him. But who killed all these [^CJehu might have been blaming the Samaritan officials, or perhaps was implying that God ordered the killing]?