2 Chronicles 21-22

New King James Version

Jehoram Reigns in Judah^(A)

21 And ^(B)Jehoshaphat ^[a]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ²He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. ³Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

⁴Now when Jehoram ^[b]was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers with the sword, and also others of the princes of Israel.

⁵^(C)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of ^(D)Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the ^(E)covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his ^(F)sons forever.

⁸^(G)In his days Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, and made a king over themselves. ⁹So Jehoram went out with his officers, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots. ¹⁰Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. At that time Libnah revolted against his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord God of his fathers. ¹¹Moreover he made ^[c]high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to ^(H)commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.

¹²And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying,

Thus says the Lord God of your father David:

Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have ^(I)made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to ^(J)play the harlot like the ^(K)harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have ^(L)killed your brothers, those of your father’s household, who were better than yourself, ¹⁴behold, the Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction—your children, your wives, and all your possessions; ¹⁵and you will become very sick with a ^(M)disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.

¹⁶Moreover the ^(N)Lord ^(O)stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the ^(P)Arabians who were near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also ^(Q)his sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except ^[d]Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸After all this the Lord struck him ^(R)in his intestines with an incurable disease. ¹⁹Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no ^[e]burning for him, like ^(S)the burning for his fathers.

²⁰He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah^(T)

22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^(U)Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the raiders who came with the ^(V)Arabians into the camp had killed all the ^(W)older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, reigned. ²Ahaziah was ^[f]forty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^(X)Athaliah the ^[g]granddaughter 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 ^[h]Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth Gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. ⁶^(Y)Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And ^[i]Azariah 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 ^(Z)was God’s occasion for Ahaziah’s ^[j]downfall; for when he arrived, ^(AA)he went out with ^[k]Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(AB)whom the Lord had anointed to ^[l]cut off the house of Ahab. ⁸And it happened, when Jehu was ^(AC)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, and ^(AD)found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who served Ahaziah, that he killed them. ⁹^(AE)Then 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 ^(AF)Jehoshaphat, who ^(AG)sought the Lord with all his heart.”

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

Athaliah Reigns in Judah^(AH)

¹⁰^(AI)Now 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 ^[m]Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took ^(AJ)Joash 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.