Beginning

Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat^(A)

21 Jehoshaphat died, as had his ancestors, and was buried in the City of David alongside his ancestors. His son Jehoram became king in his place. ² Jehoshaphat’s sons, Jehoram’s^[a] brothers, included Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah,^[b] Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel.

³ Their father gave them many gifts made of silver, and gold, as well as valuable things, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he passed the kingdom to Jehoram because Jehoram was his firstborn. ⁴ But after Jehoram had assumed the throne and consolidated his rule over his father’s kingdom, he executed all of his brothers, along with some of the rulers of Israel. ⁵ Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶ He lived like^[c] the kings of Israel, following the example of Ahab’s dynasty, since he had married Ahab’s daughter, and he practiced what the Lord considered to be evil. ⁷ Nevertheless, the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty because of the covenant that he had made with David, especially since he had promised to give him and to his sons the reigning presence of an heir^[d] forever.

Edom Revolts^(B)

⁸ Nevertheless, Edom revolted against Judah’s rule and set up their own king to rule them during Jehoram’s reign.^{[e] 9} So Jehoram invaded Edom^[f] with his commanders and his chariots by night and killed the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ Edom remains in revolt against Judah to this day. Libnah revolted against Jehoram’s rule, too, because he had abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors. ¹¹ In addition to all of this, he built high places in the mountains of Judah, led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into cultic sexual immorality, and made Judah go astray.

Elijah Writes a Letter

¹² After this, a letter arrived from Elijah the prophet. It said:

¹⁶ The Lord also provoked the attitude of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians against Jehoram, ¹⁷ and they attacked Judah, invading it and carried off everything he owned in his royal palace, along with all of his sons and wives except for his youngest son Jehoahaz.^[g]

Jehoram’s Illness and Death^(C)

¹⁸ After all of this happened, the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable illness. ¹⁹ In due course, as time passed, two years later^[h] his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died in agony. His people lit no memorial bonfire for him as they had done for his ancestors. ²⁰ Jehoram^[i] was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He left this earth^[j]—to nobody’s regret—and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram^(D)

22 The residents of Jerusalem made Jehoram’s^[k] son Ahaziah^[l] king in his place after the raiding party that had invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all of the older sons. That’s how Jehoram’s son Ahaziah became king of Judah. ² Ahaziah was 22^[m] years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, Omri’s granddaughter.

³ He followed the example^[n] of Ahab’s dynasty because his mother gave him evil counsel. ⁴ So he practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just like Ahab’s dynasty had done, because after his father died, he was given advice that resulted in his destruction. ⁵ He followed their counsel and accompanied Ahab’s son Joram, king of Israel, to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram, ⁶ so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramah in the battle against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoram’s son, went to visit Ahab’s son Joram, because he was wounded.

Ahaziah is Executed^(E)

⁷ God used Ahaziah’s visit to Joram to destroy Ahaziah. As soon as he arrived, Ahaziah^[o] went out with Joram to attack Nimshi’s son Jehu, whom the Lord had appointed to eliminate Ahab’s dynasty. ⁸ And that’s exactly what happened. While Jehu was punishing^[p] Ahab’s dynasty, he located the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were ministering to Ahaziah, and he put them to death. ⁹ Jehu^[q] also searched for Ahaziah, had him apprehended while Ahaziah^[r] was hiding out in Samaria, and had Ahaziah^[s] brought to him. Jehu^[t] had Ahaziah^[u] executed and buried. It was said of Jehu,^[v] “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all of his heart.” As a result, there was no one left in the household of Ahaziah strong enough to reign in the kingdom.

Athaliah’s Revolt^(F)

¹⁰ As soon as Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she set out to destroy the entire royal family of Judah. ¹¹ However, the king’s daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah’s son Joash away from the king’s children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That’s how King Jehoram’s daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada’s wife and Ahaziah’s sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him. ¹² Joash^[w] remained with them for six years, hidden in God’s Temple while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Jehoiada Establishes Joash as King^(G)

23 Seven years later, Jehoiada mustered up some courage and made a deal with the officers who commanded units of hundreds of soldiers, including Jehoram’s son Azariah, Jehochanan’s son Ishmael, Obed’s son Azariah, Adaiah’s son Maaseiah, and Zichri’s son Elishaphat. ² They traveled throughout Judah and gathered together the descendants of Levi from all the cities of Judah, along with the Israeli family leaders. ³ Everybody went to Jerusalem, and the whole group made a covenant with the king in God’s Temple, where Jehoiada^[x] addressed them:

⁸ What Jehoiada the priest ordered is precisely what the descendants of Levi and all of Judah did. Each of them took the men who were on duty on the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty. Jehoiada the priest did not release the divisions from service, ⁹ and Jehoiada the priest issued the spears and shields that King David had placed in storage in God’s Temple to the officers in charge of the units of hundreds. ¹⁰ He set the rest of the people to serve as guards for the king, and each one brandished weapons in his hand, from the south side of the Temple to the north side of the Temple, around the altar, and surrounding the palace. ¹¹ Then he brought out the king’s son, put a crown on him, and presented him with the Testimony,^[aa]

Joash is Crowned and Athaliah Executed^(H)

¹² When Athaliah heard all the commotion of the people running around and praising the king, she went straight to the Lord’s Temple to confront^[ab] the people. ¹³ She looked around, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the gate, accompanied by officers and trumpeters who stood beside the king, along with all the people of the land rejoicing and sounding trumpets while singers lead the celebration with their musical instruments. Athaliah tore her robes and yelled “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ But Jehoiada the priest summoned the captains of hundreds who had been appointed in charge over the army and ordered them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and execute anyone who follows her.” The priest also told them, “Don’t execute her in the Lord’s Temple.” ¹⁵ So they arrested her when she arrived at the entrance to the Horse Gate near the royal palace, and then they executed her there.

Jehoiada’s Reforms^(I)

¹⁶ After this, Jehoiada drew up a covenant between himself as an individual with all the people, and between himself as king, that they would be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the temple of Baal, broke its altars and idols to pieces, and executed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. ¹⁸ Jehoiada also placed the offices of the Lord’s Temple under the authority of the Levitical priests whom David had assigned over the Lord’s Temple, just as is required by the Law of Moses, to offer the Lord’s burnt offerings with joy and singing, just as David had ordered. ¹⁹ Jehoiada^[ac] also stationed inspectors^[ad] at the Lord’s Temple so that no one would enter who was ritually unclean in any manner. ²⁰ He also took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the people’s governors, and all the people of the land, and they all marched with the king from the Lord’s Temple through the upper gate to the royal palace, where they installed the king on his royal throne. ²¹ There all of the people of the land rejoiced and the city stayed quiet, because they had executed Athaliah with a sword.

Joash Follows Jehoiada’s Example^(J)

24 Joash was seven years old when he began his reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beer-sheba. ² Joash practiced what the Lord considered to be right during the lifetime^[ae] of Jehoiada the priest, ³ who found two wives for him, so he fathered sons and daughters.

⁴ Later on, Joash decided to rebuild the Lord’s Temple, ⁵ so he assembled the priests and descendants of Levi and ordered them, “Go throughout the cities of Judah and take up a collection^[af] from all of Israel for the annual upkeep^[ag] of the Temple of your God. And make sure that you act quickly.” But the descendants of Levi did not act quickly, ⁶ so the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and asked him, “Why haven’t you required the descendants of Levi to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the Lord’s servant, and the assembly of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”

⁷ Because that wicked woman Athaliah’s family members had broken into the Temple of God and used the consecrated implements of the Lord’s Temple for service to the Baals, ⁸ the king issued an order and a chest was made and set outside the entrance gate to the Lord’s Temple. ⁹ A public notice was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in the tax that Moses the servant of the Lord had levied on Israel when they were in the wilderness. ¹⁰ So all the princes and all the people gladly brought their tax and placed it into the chest until they had completed paying the tax.^{[ah] 11} Whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officials by the descendants of Levi, the royal secretary and the chief priest’s designated officer would come, empty the chest, and take it back to its place. They did this day after day until they had collected a large amount of cash.^[ai]

¹² Both the king and Jehoiada paid the money to those who were working to maintain the service of the Lord’s Temple, and they, in turn, hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s Temple. Iron and bronze workers also were brought in to repair the Lord’s Temple. ¹³ As a result, the workmen did their labor, and the repair work progressed steadily under their supervision,^[aj] and they restored God’s Temple back to what it should be, and strengthened it, too. ¹⁴ When they had completed the work, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was used to cast utensils for the Lord’s Temple that were to be utilized for daily service and for burnt offerings, for incense vessels, and for both gold and silver vessels. Burnt offerings were offered on a regular basis in the Lord’s Temple throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime.

Joash Apostatizes and Kills Jehoiada’s Son

¹⁵ Eventually, Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130 years, after having lived a full life. ¹⁶ He was buried in the City of David among the graves of^[ak] the kings, because he had accomplished many good things in Israel on behalf of God and his Temple. ¹⁷ But after Jehoiada had died, officials from Judah came, bowed down to the king, and the king listened to what they had to say. ¹⁸ They abandoned the Lord’s Temple and the God of their fathers, and they served Asherim^[al] and idols. As a result this guilt of theirs resulted in wrath coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God^[am] sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord.

²⁰ Then Jehoiada the priest’s son Zechariah was clothed by the Spirit of God, and he stood above the people and told them, “This is what God has to say: ‘Why are you breaking the Lord’s commandments. You’ll never be successful! Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”

²¹ But the people^[an] conspired against him, and at the direct orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. ²² This is how King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him: he killed his son. As he lay dying, Zechariah cried out, “May the Lord watch this and avenge.”

The Death of Joash^(K)

²³ At the end of that year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed every senior official among the people, and sent all of their possessions to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ The Aramean army attacked with only a small force, but the Lord delivered a much larger army into their control because Judah^[ao] had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. And so the Aramean army carried out God’s^[ap] judgment on Joash. ²⁵ After the Arameans left him very sick, Joash’s^[aq] own servants conspired against him because Joash^[ar] had murdered Jehoiada the priest’s son, and they killed him on his sick bed. ²⁶ The conspirators included Shimeath the Ammonite’s son Zabad and Shimrith the Moabite’s son Jehozabad. ²⁷ Records concerning his sons, the various prophetic statements rebuking him, and records of the reconstruction work on God’s Temple are written in the Midrash^[as] of the Book of the Kings. Joash’s^[at] son Amaziah reigned in his place.