2 Chronicles 22

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^aAhaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the ^bArabians into the camp had killed all the ^colder sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. ²Ahaziah was ¹forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^dAthaliah the ²granddaughter of Omri. ³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly. ⁴Therefore he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab; for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction. ⁵He also followed their advice, and went with ³Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ^6eThen he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And ⁴Azariah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷His going to Joram ^fwas God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s ⁵downfall; for when he arrived, ^ghe went out with ⁶Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^hwhom the Lord had anointed to ⁷cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸And it happened, when Jehu was ⁱexecuting judgment on the house of Ahab, and ^jfound the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. ^9kThen he searched for Ahaziah; and they caught him (he was hiding in Samaria), and brought him to Jehu. When they had killed him, they buried him, “because,” they said, “he is the son of ^lJehoshaphat, who ^msought the Lord with all his heart.”

So the house of Ahaziah had no one to assume power over the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

¹⁰ⁿNow when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah. ¹¹But ⁸Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took ^oJoash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. ¹²And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.