2 Kings 11–19

Chapter 11

¹And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose up and destroyed all the royal seed. ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, and hid him and his nurse in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. ³And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains of the hundreds, of the bodyguard and the couriers, and brought them to him into the house of Jehovah, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah, and shewed them the king’s son. ⁵And he commanded them saying, This is the thing which ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house; ⁶and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the couriers; and ye shall keep the watch of the house for a defence. ⁷And the two parts of you, all those that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king. ⁸And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in. ⁹And the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go forth on the sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰And the priest gave to the captains of the hundreds king David’s spears and shields which were in the house of Jehovah. ¹¹And the couriers stood by the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, toward the altar and the house. ¹²And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king!

¹³And Athaliah heard the noise of the couriers and of the people; and she came to the people into the house of Jehovah. ¹⁴And she looked, and behold, the king stood on the dais, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. And Athaliah rent her garments and cried, Conspiracy! Conspiracy! ¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, slay with the sword; for the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of Jehovah. ¹⁶And they made way for her, and she went by the way by which the horses entered the king’s house, and there was she put to death.

¹⁷And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be the people of Jehovah; and between the king and the people. ¹⁸Then all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down: his altars and his images they broke in pieces completely, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of Jehovah. ¹⁹And he took the captains of the hundreds, and the bodyguard, and the couriers, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way through the gate of the couriers into the king’s house. And he sat upon the throne of the kings. ²⁰And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they had slain Athaliah with the sword beside the king’s house. ²¹Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

Chapter 12

¹In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. ²And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, all the days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

⁴And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the money of every one that passes the account, the money at which every man is valued, and all the money that comes into any man’s heart to bring into the house of Jehovah, ⁵let the priests take it, every man of his acquaintance; and let them repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach is found. ⁶And it was so that in the twenty-third year of king Jehoash, the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. ⁷Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have ye not repaired the breaches of the house? And now receive no money of your acquaintances, but give it for the breaches of the house. ⁸And the priests consented to receive no money of the people, and that they should only repair the breaches of the house. ⁹And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Jehovah; and the priests that kept the door put into it all the money brought into the house of Jehovah. ¹⁰And it came to pass when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up, and they tied up and counted the money that was found in the house of Jehovah. ¹¹And they gave the money, weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, who were appointed over the house of Jehovah; and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders that wrought upon the house of Jehovah, ¹²and to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, and for all that had to be laid out on the house for repairs. ¹³However there were not made for the house of Jehovah basons of silver, knives, bowls, trumpets, nor any utensil of gold or utensil of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah; ¹⁴but they gave that to the workmen, and repaired the house of Jehovah with it. ¹⁵And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the money to be bestowed on workmen; for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶The money of trespass-offerings, and the money of sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of Jehovah: it was for the priests.

¹⁷Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem. ¹⁸And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah and in the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem. ¹⁹And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy, and smote Joash in the house of Millo, at the descent of Silla. ²¹And Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 13

¹In the three-and-twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, for seventeen years. ²And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not from them. ³And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all those days. ⁴(And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. ⁶Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin: they walked therein; and there remained also the Asherah in Samaria.) ⁷For he had left of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing. ⁸And the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria; and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, for sixteen years. ¹¹And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from any of the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: he walked therein. ¹²And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³And Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. ¹⁴And Elisha fell sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! ¹⁵And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows. ¹⁶And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands, ¹⁷and said, Open the window eastward. And…