2 Chronicles 23
Christian Standard Bible
Athaliah Overthrown
23 Then, in the seventh year,(A) Jehoiada summoned his courage and took the commanders of hundreds into a covenant with him: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri. 2 They made a circuit throughout Judah. They gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the family heads of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
3 Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in God’s temple. Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s son! He will reign, just as the Lord promised(B) concerning David’s sons. 4 This is what you are to do: a third of you, priests and Levites who are coming on duty on the Sabbath,(C) are to be gatekeepers. 5 A third are to be at the king’s palace, and a third are to be at the Foundation Gate, and all the troops will be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple. 6 No one is to enter the Lord’s temple but the priests and those Levites who serve;(D) they may enter because they are holy, but all the people are to obey the requirement of the Lord. 7 The Levites are to completely surround the king with weapons in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Accompany the king in all his daily tasks.”[a]
8 So the commanders of hundreds did everything the priest Jehoiada commanded. They each brought their men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty on the Sabbath—for the priest Jehoiada did not release the divisions.(E) 9 The priest Jehoiada gave to the commanders of hundreds King David’s spears, shields, and quivers[b] that were in God’s temple. 10 Then he stationed all the troops with their weapons in hand surrounding the king—from the right side of the temple to the left side, by the altar and by the temple.
11 They brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the testimony,(F) and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and cried, “Long live the king!” (G)
12 When Athaliah heard the noise from the troops, the guards, and those praising the king, she went to the troops in the Lord’s temple. 13 As she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar[c] at the entrance. The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets(H) while the singers with musical instruments were leading the praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”
14 Then the priest Jehoiada sent out the commanders of hundreds, those in charge of the army, saying, “Take her out between the ranks, and put anyone who follows her to death by the sword,” for the priest had said, “Don’t put her to death in the Lord’s temple.” 15 So they arrested her, and she went by the entrance of the Horse Gate(I) to the king’s palace, where they put her to death.
Jehoiada’s Reforms
16 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. 17 So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed its altars and images and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars.(J)
18 Then Jehoiada put the oversight of the Lord’s temple into the hands of the Levitical priests,(K) whom David had appointed(L) over the Lord’s temple, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord as it is written in the law of Moses,(M) with rejoicing and song ordained by[d] David. 19 He stationed gatekeepers(N) at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that nothing unclean could enter for any reason. 20 Then he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom. 21 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword.
2 Chronicles 23
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
23 And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the captains of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel the son of Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son of Adaias, and Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with them.
2 And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
3 And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house of God: and Joiada said to them: Behold the king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.
4 And this is the thing that you shall do:
5 A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, and of the porters, shall be at the gates: and a third part at the king's house: and a third at the gate that is called the Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the house of the Lord.
6 And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests, and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because they are sanctified: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches of the Lord.
7 And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with his arms; (and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain;) and let them be with the king, both coming in, and going out.
8 So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the high priest bad commanded: and they took every one his men that were under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with those who had fulfilled the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the high priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were accustomed to succeed one another every week.
9 And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house of the Lord.
10 And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the altar, and the temple, round about the king.
11 And they brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and they made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed him: and they prayed for him, and said: God save the king.
12 Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the Lord.
13 And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the entrance, and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing on instruments of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she rent her garments, and said: Treason, treason.
14 And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the chiefs of the army, said to them: Take her forth without the precinct of the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword. For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of the Lord.
15 And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was come within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there.
16 And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the people, and the king, that they should be the people of the Lord.
17 And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it: and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan the priest of Baal before the altars.
18 And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord, under the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the disposition of David.
19 He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in.
20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought him through the upper gate into the king's house, and set him on the royal throne.
21 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword.
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