2 Kings 10:14
And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them. And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.
Jehu's command to take the forty-two men alive at the pit of the shearing house stands as an example of self-assertion rising up in place of God-directed restraint. When self thus rises, the tongue pours out words that are harsh and unfitting, wounding rather than healing those who hear. The lesson is that truth must instead be presented in love, with gentle speech that imparts life rather than with the driving force of self.