7 But it was ordained by2 God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, ehe went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, fwhom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. 8 gAnd when Jehu was hexecuting judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 iHe searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. jThey buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, kwho sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

10 lNow when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath,3 the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him4 from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.