Athaliah Reigns in Judah^(A)

11 When ^(B)Athaliah ^(C)the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was ^(D)dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.

Insurrection Against Gedaliah

41 Now it came to pass in the seventh month ^(A)that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[a]family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^(B)Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah^(A)

^10 (B)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. ¹¹ But ^[a]Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took ^(C)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. ¹² And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

²⁵ But ^(A)it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah, the Jews, as well as the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Massacre of the Innocents

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

⁷ For ^(A)the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the ^(B)dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.

³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ^(A)‘This is the heir. ^(B)Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ^39 (C)So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Ahaziah of Judah Killed^(A)

²⁷ But when Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled by the road to ^[a]Beth Haggan. So Jehu pursued him, and said, ^[b]“Shoot him also in the chariot.” And they shot him at the Ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to ^(B)Megiddo, and died there.

²⁶ Ahaziah was ^(A)twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri, king of Israel.