Beginning

Chapter 21

^1 [a]Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king. ² Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. ³ Their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and other valuable possessions, as well as fortified cities in Judah. However, he bestowed the kingship upon Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

The Evil Deeds of Jehoram. ⁴ When Jehoram had firmly established himself on his father’s throne, he put all of his brothers to the sword as well as some of the princes of Israel. ⁵ He was thirty-two years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years.

⁶ Jehoram followed the practices of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters, and he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. ⁷ However, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he had made with David and because of his promise to give him and his descendants a lamp forever.

⁸ During the reign of Jehoram, Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and appointed its own king. ⁹ Therefore, Jehoram crossed over into Edom with his commanders and all his chariots. He set out during the night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders.

¹⁰ However, Edom has remained in rebellion against the sovereignty of Judah to the present day. Libnah revolted against the rule of Jehoram at the same time because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers, ¹¹ and because he had established shrines in the hill country of Judah, leading the inhabitants of Jerusalem into idolatry and the people of Judah into apostasy.

¹² Retribution. A letter came to Jehoram from the prophet Elijah with this message: “Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: ‘You have not followed the example of your father Jehoshaphat, nor of Asa, king of Judah,^{[b] 13} but have instead followed the example of the kings of Israel and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into apostasy, just as the house of Ahab did. Also, you have murdered your brothers, members of your father’s house, who were far more worthy than you.

¹⁴ “ ‘Because of all this, the Lord will cause a great affliction to affect your people, your children, your wives, and all your property. ¹⁵ Moreover, you yourself will suffer greatly from a severe disease afflicting your bowels that will eventually cause them to protrude.’ ”

¹⁶ Then the Lord aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who dwelt near the Ethiopians.^{[c] 17} They attacked Judah, invaded it, and carried away all the wealth that was found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and his wives. Not a son was left to him except the youngest, Jehoahaz.

¹⁸ After all this the Lord struck down Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. ¹⁹ In the course of time, after two years had gone by, his bowels came forth as a result of his disease, and he died in unbearable agony. His people did not bother to make a funeral pyre for him as they had done for his ancestors.

²⁰ Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He passed away with none of the people exhibiting any sign of regret, and he was buried in the City of David, although not in the tombs of the kings.

Chapter 22

Ahaziah. ¹ The people of Jerusalem then chose Jehoram’s youngest son Ahaziah^[d] as his successor, since the troops who had come into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. Thus Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, reigned as King of Judah.

² Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. ³ He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to pursue evil practices. ^4 [e]To his own destruction he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisors.

⁵ Ahaziah even followed their advice when he made an alliance with Jehoram, the son of King Ahab of Israel, to make war against King Hazael of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead. In that conflict Jehoram was wounded by the Arameans. ⁶ As a result, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to visit Jehoram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel.

⁷ However, it was ordained by God that the visit of Ahaziah to Jehoram should be the occasion of his downfall. For when he arrived there, he went forth with Jehoram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ⁸ While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he also encountered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, and he killed them.

⁹ Then Jehu went forth in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. They brought Ahaziah to Jehu, who put him to death. However, they buried him, for they said: “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart.” As a result, there was no one remaining from the house of Ahaziah who was strong enough to rule.

¹⁰ When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, was told that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. ¹¹ However, Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and she put him with his nurse in a bedroom.

In this way, Jehosheba, who was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, as well as a sister of Ahaziah, hid Joash from Athaliah so that she was unable to kill him. ¹² Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Chapter 23

Athaliah Opposed. ¹ In the seventh year Jehoiada bolstered his courage and entered into a covenant with regimental commanders: Azariah, son of Jehoram; Ishmael, son of Jehohanan; Azariah, son of Obed; Maaseiah, son of Adaiah; and Elishaphat, son of Zichri. ² They went throughout Judah, gathering the Levites from all the cities of Judah as well as the heads of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³ Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them: “Here is the king’s son! He will reign as king, as the Lord promised concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This is what you must do: one-third of you, priests and Levites, who come on duty on the Sabbath, are to guard the gates. ⁵ Another third are to be assigned to the king’s palace, and the final third are to be stationed at the Foundation Gate, while all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Allow no one to enter the house of the Lord except the priests and the Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are holy, but all the other people must continue to observe the instructions of the Lord. ⁷ The Levites shall station themselves by surrounding the king on all sides, each one with his weapon drawn, and anyone who tries to enter the temple is to be put to death. They must remain with the king wherever he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all Judah did everything that the priest Jehoiada had commanded. Each one brought his own men, both those who came on duty on the Sabbath and those who were scheduled to go off duty, since Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed any of the divisions. ⁹ Then the priest handed over to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that belonged to King David and that were stored in the house of God.

¹⁰ After that, Jehoiada the priest stationed all the people, each one with a weapon in his hand, from the south side to the north side of the temple and around the altar, while forming a circle around the king. ¹¹ Then they brought forth the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, presented him with the covenant, and proclaimed him king. When Jehoiada and his sons had anointed him, they shouted: “Long live the king!”

¹² When Athaliah heard the shouts of the people as they ran forth to proclaim him as king, she went into the house of the Lord where the people had assembled. ¹³ As she looked on, she beheld the king standing by his pillar^[f] at the entrance, with the officers and the trumpeters at the king’s side, and with the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, while the singers with their musical instruments were leading the celebrations. Thereupon Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out: “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Immediately Jehoiada the priest gave the following orders to the captains who were in command of the troops: “Take her outside between the ranks. If anyone tries to follow her, put him to death by the sword!” Then the priest made it clear: “Do not put her to death in the temple of the Lord.” ¹⁵ After that they seized her and brought her to the entrance of the Horse Gate of the palace, and there they put her to death.

¹⁶ After that, Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the temple of Baal and demolished it. They smashed its altars and its images, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. ¹⁸ Jehoiada entrusted the supervision of the temple of the Lord to the Levitical priests whom David had designated to present burnt offerings to the Lord, as prescribed in the law of Moses, with singing and rejoicing as David had ordained. ¹⁹ He also stationed guards at the gates of the Lord’s temple to ensure that no one should enter who was in any way unclean.

²⁰ Then Jehoiada took with him the captains of units of a hundred, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and escorted the king down from the house of the Lord. Entering the palace through the Upper Gate, they seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet and serene after Athaliah had been put to death by the sword.

Chapter 24

Temple Repairs.^{[g] 1} Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba. ² Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Jehoiada was alive. ³ Jehoiada selected two wives for him, and he became the father of several sons and daughters.

⁴ Sometime later, Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. ⁵ After he assembled the priests and the Levites, he said to them: “Go forth to all the towns of Judah and without any delay collect the money that is due each year so that we may make the annual repairs that are necessary. See to it that you act quickly.” However, the Levites did not hasten to proceed immediately.

⁶ Therefore, the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and asked him: “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?” ⁷ For the wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into the house of God and had even given to the Baals the sacred revenues of the temple of the Lord.

⁸ Therefore, the king ordered that a chest be made and placed outside the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Then a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax which Moses, the servant of God, had imposed on Israel in the desert. ¹⁰ As a result, the officials and all the people rejoiced, and they willingly brought their contributions, depositing them in the chest until it was filled.

¹¹ Whenever the chest was brought to the royal officials by the Levites, and it was evident that it contained a large amount of money, the king’s secretary and the representative of the chief priest would come to empty it and then return the chest to its designated place. They did this day after day and collected money in great abundance. ¹² Then the king and Jehoiada gave the money to those who were responsible for carrying out the work of the house of the Lord, and they also hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, while workers skilled in iron and bronze devoted themselves to making all the necessary repairs.

¹³ The laborers concentrated on their labor, and the repairs progressed steadily at their hands. They restored the house of God to its original state and strengthened it. ¹⁴ After they had completed their work, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and it was used to make vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels for the services and for burnt offerings, and basins and other gold and silver utensils. They continually offered burnt offerings in the Lord’s temple throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ Jehoiada lived to a ripe old age. He was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. ¹⁶ He was buried with the kings in the City of David because of all the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple.

¹⁷ Apostasy of King Joash.^[h] After the death of Jehoiada, the officials came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to their advice. ¹⁸ Then they forsook the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they began to worship the sacred poles and the idols. Because of their guilt, God’s wrath descended upon Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Although the Lord sent prophets to lead them back to him, they refused to listen.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Why do you transgress the commands of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’ ”

²¹ However, they conspired against him, and at the king’s order they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus King Joash, forgetting the loyalty of Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada, killed his son. As he was dying, he said: “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”

²³ Retribution. At the turn of the year the Aramean army advanced against Joash. When they reached Judah and Jerusalem, they massacred all the leaders of the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. ²⁴ Although the invading Aramean army had come with only a small force, the Lord delivered into their hands a very large army because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. Thus they executed judgment against Joash.

²⁵ When the Arameans had withdrawn, leaving Joash severely wounded, his servants conspired against him to avenge the blood of the son of the priest Jehoiada, and they killed him on his bed. Thus he died, and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

²⁶ Those who conspired against him were Zabad, the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad, the son of Shimrith, a Moabite. ²⁷ Accounts of his sons, of the many oracles against him, and of the rebuilding of the house of God are all recorded in the commentary of the book of kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him.