2 Chronicles 22
Christian Standard Bible
Judah’s King Ahaziah
22 Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, because the troops that had come with the Arabs(A) to the camp had killed all the older sons.[a] So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 2 Ahaziah(B) was twenty-two[b] years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter[c] of Omri.
3 He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother gave him evil advice. 4 So he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight like the house of Ahab, for they were his advisers after the death of his father, to his destruction. 5 He also followed their advice and went with Joram[d] son of Israel’s King Ahab to fight against King Hazael of Aram, in Ramoth-gilead. The Arameans[e] wounded Joram, 6 so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead[f] when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. Then Judah’s King Ahaziah[g] son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.
7 Ahaziah’s downfall came from God when he went to Joram.(C) When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi,(D) whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.(E) 8 So when Jehu executed judgment on the house of Ahab,(F) he found the rulers of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were serving Ahaziah, and he killed them. 9 Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah,(G) and Jehu’s soldiers captured him (he was hiding in Samaria). So they brought Ahaziah to Jehu, and they killed him. The soldiers buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart.”(H) So no one from the house of Ahaziah had the strength to rule the kingdom.
Athaliah Usurps the Throne
10 When(I) Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs[h] of the house of Judah. 11 Jehoshabeath,[i] the king’s daughter, rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. Now Jehoshabeath was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the priest Jehoiada. Since she was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid Joash from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. 12 He was hiding with them in God’s temple for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.
2 Chronicles 22
EasyEnglish Bible
Ahaziah becomes king of Judah
22 The people who lived in Jerusalem chose Jehoram's youngest son, Ahaziah, to become king. The group of men who came into the city with the Arabs had killed all Jehoram's older sons. So Jehoram's son Ahaziah became the king of Judah.
2 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother's name was Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel.[a]
3 Ahaziah lived in the same bad way that Ahab's family had done. His mother taught him to do wicked things. 4 He did things that the Lord said were evil, as Ahab's family had done. Ahab's family became advisors to Ahaziah after his father died, and they caused Ahaziah's death. 5 They told him to join with Ahab's son, King Joram of Israel, to fight against King Hazael of Syria. They fought a battle at Ramoth Gilead. The Syrian army won the fight and they hurt King Joram. 6 Joram returned to Jezreel, so that his wounds could get better after the battle. While he was there, King Ahaziah of Judah went to visit him, because of his wounds.
Jehu kills Ahaziah and his people
7 When Ahaziah visited Joram, God used it to cause Ahaziah's death. When Ahaziah arrived, he went with Joram to meet Nimshi's son Jehu. But the Lord had chosen Jehu to kill all Ahab's family. 8 While Jehu was destroying Ahab's family, he met some of the officers of Judah who had come with Ahaziah. Jehu killed them, as well as some of Ahaziah's relatives who had travelled with him. 9 Then he went to look for Ahaziah. Jehu's men caught him in the city of Samaria, where he was hiding. They took him to Jehu. Then they punished him with death. They buried him properly, because they said, ‘He was the grandson of King Jehoshaphat who served the Lord faithfully.’
Now there was nobody in Ahaziah's family who had the authority to rule Judah as king.
Athaliah rules Judah
10 Ahaziah's mother Athaliah heard the news that her son was dead. So she started to kill everyone in Judah's royal family.
11 But King Jehoram's daughter Jehosheba rescued Ahaziah's son Joash. When Athaliah's servants had come to murder the royal sons, Jehosheba took Joash away and she hid him. She put him in a bedroom in the temple with his nurse. Jehosheba was Ahaziah's sister and she was the wife of Jehoiada, the priest. So she hid Joash from Athaliah to stop her from killing him. 12 Joash stayed safely in a room in God's temple while Queen Athaliah ruled Judah for six years.
Footnotes
- 22:2 Athaliah was a daughter of King Ahab of Israel.
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