2 Chronicles 22–23

King Ahaziah of Judah

22Some Arabs had led a raid and killed all King Jehoram’s sons except Ahaziah, the youngest. So now the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah king as his father’s successor. ^2–3Ahaziah became king at the age of 22,^j and he ruled in Jerusalem for one year. Ahaziah also followed the example of King Ahab’s family, since his mother Athaliah—the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel—gave him advice that led him into evil. ⁴He sinned against the Lord, because after his father’s death other members of King Ahab’s family became his advisers, and they led to his downfall. ⁵Following their advice, he joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead, and Joram was wounded in battle. ⁶He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds, and Ahaziah went there to visit him.

⁷God used this visit to Joram to bring about Ahaziah’s downfall. While Ahaziah was there, he and Joram were confronted by a man named Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had chosen to destroy the dynasty of Ahab. ⁸As Jehu was carrying out God’s sentence on the dynasty, he came across a group made up of Judean leaders and of Ahaziah’s nephews that had accompanied Ahaziah on his visit. Jehu killed them all. ⁹A search was made for Ahaziah, and he was found hiding in Samaria. They took him to Jehu and put him to death. But they did bury his body out of respect for his grandfather King Jehoshaphat, who had done all he could to serve the Lord.

No member of Ahaziah’s family was left who could rule the kingdom.

Queen Athaliah of Judah

¹⁰As soon as King Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah learnt of her son’s murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family of Judah to be killed. ¹¹Ahaziah had a half-sister, Jehosheba, who was married to a priest named Jehoiada. She secretly rescued one of Ahaziah’s sons, Joash, took him away from the other princes who were about to be murdered and hid him and a nurse in a bedroom at the Temple. By keeping him hidden, she saved him from death at the hands of Athaliah. ¹²For six years he remained there in hiding, while Athaliah ruled as queen.

The Revolt against Athaliah

23After waiting six years Jehoiada the priest decided that it was time to take action. He made a pact with five army officers: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri. ²They travelled to all the cities of Judah and brought back with them to Jerusalem the Levites and all the heads of the clans.

^3*They all gathered in the Temple, and there they made a covenant with Joash, the king’s son. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the son of the late king! He is now to be king, as the Lord promised that King David’s descendants would be. ⁴This is what we will do. When the priests and Levites come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of them will guard the temple gates, ⁵another third will guard the royal palace, and the rest will be stationed at the Foundation Gate. All the people will assemble in the temple courtyard. ⁶No one is to enter the temple buildings except the priests and the Levites who are on duty. They may enter, because they are consecrated, but the rest of the people must obey the Lord’s instructions and stay outside. ⁷The Levites are to stand guard round the king, with their swords drawn, and are to stay with the king wherever he goes. Anyone who tries to enter the Temple is to be killed.”

⁸The Levites and the people of Judah carried out Jehoiada’s instructions. The men were not dismissed when they went off duty on the Sabbath, so the commanders had available both those coming on duty and those going off. ⁹Jehoiada gave the officers the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple. ¹⁰He stationed the men with drawn swords all round the front of the Temple, to protect the king. ¹¹Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. And so he was made king. Jehoiada the priest and his sons anointed Joash, and everyone shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹²Athaliah heard the people cheering for the king, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. ¹³There she saw the new king at the temple entrance, standing by the column reserved for kings and surrounded by the army officers and the trumpeters. All the people were shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets, and the temple musicians with their instruments were leading the celebration. She tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the temple area, so he called out the army officers and said, “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.”

¹⁵They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.

Jehoiada’s Reforms

¹⁶The priest Jehoiada got King Joash and the people to join him in making a covenant that they would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷Then they all went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols there and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. ¹⁸Jehoiada put the priests and Levites in charge of the work of the Temple. They were to carry out the duties assigned to them by King David and to burn the sacrifices offered to the Lord in accordance with the Law of Moses. They were also in charge of the music and the celebrations. ¹⁹Jehoiada also put guards on duty at the temple gates to keep out anyone who was ritually unclean.

²⁰The army officers, the leading citizens, the officials, and all the rest of the people joined Jehoiada in a procession that brought the king from the Temple to the palace. They entered by the main gate, and the king took his place on the throne. ²¹All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed.