2 Chronicles 21:18-23:7

English Standard Version

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him ^(A)in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^(B)like the fires made for his fathers. ^20 (C)He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^(D)with no one's regret. ^(E)They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 ^(F)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with ^(G)the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. ² Ahaziah was twenty-two^[a] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, ^(H)the granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. ⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. ⁵ He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, ⁶ and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

⁷ But it was ordained by^[b] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, ^(I)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(J)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ^8 (K)And when Jehu was ^(L)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. ^9 (M)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. ^(N)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, ^(O)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

^10 (P)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath,^[c] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him^[d] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. ¹² And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Made King

23 ^(Q)But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. ² And they went about through ^(R)Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. ³ And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada^[e] said to them, “Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, ^(S)as the Lord spoke concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This is the thing that you shall do: ^(T)of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, ⁵ and one third shall be at the king's house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Let no one enter the house of the Lord except the priests ^(U)and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the Lord. ⁷ The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”