2 Kings 11–12

Chapter 11

Athaliah Queen of Judah

1 aWhen Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal 1offspring.

2 But 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 placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death.

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

4 aNow in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds of bthe Carites and of the 1guard, and brought them to him in the house of the Lord. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s son.

5 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 “Two parts of you, even all who go out on the sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of the Lord for the king.

8 “Then 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.”

9 So the captains 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.

10 aThe priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord.

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

12 Then 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!”

13 aWhen Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people in the house of the Lord.

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

15 And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were appointed over the army 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 the Lord.”

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

17 Then aJehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people, also bbetween the king and the people.

18 All the people of the land went to athe house of Baal, and tore it down; bhis altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and ckilled Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed 1officers over the house of the Lord.

19 He took the captains 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 the Lord, and came by the way of bthe gate of the 1guards to the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

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

21 1aJehoash was seven years old when he became king.

Chapter 12

Joash (Jehoash) Reigns over Judah

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

2 Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

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

The Temple to Be Repaired

4 Then Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the sacred things awhich is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both bthe money of each man’s assessment and all the money 1which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord,

5 let 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.”

6 But it came about that in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash athe priests had not repaired the damages of the house.

7 Then 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? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but pay it for the damages of the house.”

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

9 But 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 the Lord; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money which was brought into the house of the Lord.

10 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 the Lord.

11 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 the Lord; and they 1paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord;

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

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

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

15 Moreover, athey did not require an accounting from the men into whose hand they gave the money to pay to those who did the work, for they dealt faithfully.

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

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

18 aJehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and bhis own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

Joash (Jehoash) Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah

19 Now 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?

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

21 For 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.