2 Kings 11–12

CHAPTER 11

Athaliah Reigns over Judah

^1aNow Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son had died. So she rose and caused all the royal seed to perish.

²But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, ^atook Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.

³So he was hidden away with her in the house of Yahweh six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land.

^4aNow in the seventh year Jehoiada sent for and took the commanders of hundreds of ^bthe Carites and of the ¹guard, and brought them to him in the house of Yahweh. Then he cut a covenant with them and had them swear in the house of Yahweh, and showed them the king’s son.

⁵And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: ^aone-third of you, who come in on the sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house

⁶(one-third also shall be at the gate Sur, and one-third at the gate behind the ¹guards), ²shall keep watch over the house for defense.

⁷“And two parts of you, even all who go out on the sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of Yahweh for the king.

⁸“And you shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within the ranks shall be put to death. And ^abe with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹So the commanders of hundreds ^adid according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

^10aThen the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and small shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of Yahweh.

¹¹And the ¹guards stood each with his weapons in his hand, from the right ²side of the house to the left ³side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king.

¹²Then he brought the king’s son out and ^aput the crown on him and gave him ^bthe testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “^cLong live the king!”

^13aThen Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, and she came to the people in the house of Yahweh.

¹⁴And she looked, and behold, the king was standing ^aby the pillar, according to the custom, with the commanders and the ¹trumpeters beside the king; and ^ball the people of the land were glad and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah ^ctore her clothes and cried, “^dTreason! Treason!”

¹⁵And Jehoiada the priest commanded the commanders of hundreds who were appointed over the military force and said to them, “Bring her out ¹between the ranks, and whoever follows her put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of Yahweh.”

¹⁶So they ¹laid hands on her, and she arrived at the horses’ entrance of the king’s house and was ^aput to death there.

¹⁷Then ^aJehoiada cut a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they would be the people of Yahweh, also ^bbetween the king and the people.

¹⁸And all the people of the land came to ^athe house of Baal and tore it down; ^bhis altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and they ^ckilled Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed ¹overseers over the house of Yahweh.

¹⁹And he took the commanders of hundreds and the ^aCarites and the ¹guards and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh, and came by the way of ^bthe gate of the ²guards to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

²⁰So ^aall the people of the land were glad, and the city was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.

^211aJehoash was seven years old when he became king.

CHAPTER 12

Jehoash Reigns over Judah

¹In the seventh year of Jehu, ^aJehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

²And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of Yahweh all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

³Only ^athe high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

Jehoash Repairs the House of Yahweh

⁴Then Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the sacred things ^awhich is brought into the house of Yahweh, both ^bthe money for each ¹numbered man—the money from each person’s assessment in the census—and all the money which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of Yahweh,

⁵let the priests take it for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the ¹damages of the house wherever any damage may be found.”

⁶Now it happened that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash ^athe priests had not repaired the damages of the house.

⁷Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests and said to them, “Why do you not repair the damages of the house? So now, take no more money from your acquaintances, but give it over to pay for the damages of the house.”

⁸So the priests agreed that they would take no more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the house.

⁹But ^aJehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Yahweh; and the priests who kept watch over the threshold put in it all the money which was brought into the house of Yahweh.

¹⁰Now it happened that when they saw that there was much money in the chest, ^athe king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money which was found in the house of Yahweh.

¹¹And they gave the money, which was weighed out, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Yahweh; and they ¹paid it out to the craftsmen of wood and the builders who worked on the house of Yahweh;

¹²and ^ato the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the damages to the house of Yahweh, and for all that ¹was laid out for the house to repair it.

¹³But ^athere were not made for the house of Yahweh ^bsilver cups, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver from the money which was brought into the house of Yahweh;

¹⁴for they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of Yahweh.

¹⁵Moreover, ^athey did not require an accounting from the men into whose hand they paid the money in order to pay those who did the work, for they were doing it faithfully.

¹⁶The ^amoney from the guilt offerings and ^bthe money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of Yahweh; ^cit was for the priests.

¹⁷Then ^aHazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it, and ^bHazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

^18aAnd Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had set apart as holy, and ^bhis own holy things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Amaziah Reigns over Judah

¹⁹Now 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?

^20aAnd his servants arose and made a conspiracy and ^bstruck down Joash at ^cthe house of Millo as he was going down to Silla.

²¹Now Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^aShomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and ^bAmaziah his son became king in his place.