Athaliah's Usurpation Overthrown and Joash Crowned
2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
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Chapter 22
10Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead. She arose and destroyed all the seed of the house of the kingdom of the house of Judah.11Jehosheba, daughter of the king, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the sons of the king who were being put to death. She put him and his nurse in a bedchamber and hid him. Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest—for she was the sister of Ahaziah—from the face of Athaliah, and Athaliah did not put him to death.12And he was with them in the house of God, hiding six years, and Athaliah reigned over the land.
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Chapter 23
1And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and he took the captains of the hundreds—Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehochanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri—into covenant with him.2And they went about in Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.3And the whole assembly cut a covenant in the house of God with the king. And he said to them, "Behold, the son of the king will reign just as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David."4This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you, the ones coming in on the Sabbath to the priests and to the Levites, to the gates of the thresholds.5and the third in the house of the king and the third in the gate of the foundation and all the people in the courts of the house of the LORD.6Let no one enter the house of the LORD except the priests and the serving Levites. They shall enter, for they are holy. But all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.7The Levites shall surround the king on all sides, each man with his weapons in his hand. Whoever enters the house shall be put to death. They shall stay with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.8The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest had commanded. They took each man his men, those coming in on the Sabbath with those going out on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not exempt the divisions.9Jehoiada the priest gave the chiefs of the hundreds the spears, shields, and small shields that had belonged to King David, which were in the house of God.10And he stationed all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right shoulder of the house to the left shoulder of the house, by the altar and by the house, all around the king.11And they brought out the king's son and put the diadem and the testimony on him and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, "Long live the king."12Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, and she came to the people in the house of the LORD.13She saw the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, the chiefs and the trumpets beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. The singers with their musical instruments were leading the praise. Athaliah tore her garments and cried, "Conspiracy, conspiracy!"14And Jehoiada the priest brought out the chiefs of the hundreds, the officers of the army, and said to them, "Take her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her shall be put to death with the sword." For the priest said, "Do not put her to death in the house of the LORD."15And they laid hands on her, and she went to the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king's house, and they killed her there.16And Jehoiada cut a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that the people would be the LORD's.17And all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They broke its altars and images in pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.18Jehoiada put the oversight of the house of the LORD in the hands of the priests the Levites, whom David had assigned over the house of the LORD to offer the burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, with joy and with song according to the direction of David.19He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD so that no unclean person could enter for any reason.20He took the chiefs of the hundreds, the majestic ones, the rulers among the people, and all the people of the land. They went down with the king from the house of the LORD, came through the Upper Gate of the house of the king, and seated the king on the throne of the kingdom.21All the people of the land rejoiced, the city was quiet, and they killed Athaliah with the sword.