2 Kings 11:1-14:20

American Standard Version

11 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ² But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons that were slain, even him and his nurse, ^[a]and put them in the ^[b]bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain; ³ And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.

⁴ And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the ^[c]Carites and of the ^[d]guard, and brought them to him into the house of Jehovah; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah, and showed them the king’s son. ⁵ And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king’s house; ⁶ and a third part shall be at the gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier. ⁷ And the two companies of you, even all that go forth on the sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king. ⁸ And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that cometh within the ranks, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he goeth out, and when he cometh in.

⁹ And the captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰ And the priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David’s, which were in the house of Jehovah. ¹¹ And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right ^[e]side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about. ¹² Then he brought out the king’s son, and ^[f]put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king.

¹³ And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of Jehovah: ¹⁴ and she looked, and, behold, the king stood ^[g]by the pillar, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason! treason! ¹⁵ And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth between the ranks; and him that followeth her slay with the sword. For the priest said, Let her not be slain in the house of Jehovah. ¹⁶ So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses’ entry to the king’s house: and there was she slain.

¹⁷ And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be Jehovah’s people; between the king also and the people. ¹⁸ And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed ^[h]officers over the house of Jehovah. ¹⁹ And he took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way of the gate of the guard unto the king’s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. And Athaliah they had slain with the sword at the king’s house.

²¹ Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. 12 ¹ In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. ² And Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

⁴ And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, ^[i]in current money, ^[j]the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that it cometh into any man’s heart to bring into the house of Jehovah, ⁵ let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found. ⁶ But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. ⁷ Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore take no more money from your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house. ⁸ And the priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house.

⁹ But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of Jehovah: and the priests that kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah. ¹⁰ And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s ^[k]scribe and the high priest came up, and they ^[l]put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of Jehovah. ¹¹ And they gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of Jehovah: and they ^[m]paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, that wrought upon the house of Jehovah, ¹² and to the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, and for all that ^[n]was laid out for the house to repair it. ¹³ But there were not made for the house of Jehovah cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah; ¹⁴ for they gave that to them that did the work, and repaired therewith the house of Jehovah. ¹⁵ Moreover they reckoned not with the men, into whose hand they delivered the money to give to them that did the work; for they dealt faithfully. ¹⁶ The money for the trespass-offerings, and the money for the sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of Jehovah: it was the priests’.

¹⁷ Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸ And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and of the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and smote Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla. ²¹ For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

13 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. ² And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. ³ And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, ^[o]continually. ⁴ And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened unto him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵ (And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as beforetime. ⁶ Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin, but ^[p]walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.) ⁷ For he left not to Jehoahaz of the people save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust ^[q]in threshing. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹ And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁰ In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein. ¹² Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³ And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

¹⁴ Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over ^[r]him, and said, My father, my father, the ^[s]chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! ¹⁵ And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows; and he took unto him bow and arrows. ¹⁶ And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow; and he put his hand upon it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, Open the window eastward; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. And he said, Jehovah’s arrow of ^[t]victory, even the arrow of ^[u]victory ^[v]over Syria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. ¹⁸ And he said, Take the arrows; and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground; and he smote thrice, and stayed. ¹⁹ And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

²⁰ And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. ²¹ And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and ^[w]as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

²² And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But Jehovah was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence ^[x]as yet. ²⁴ And Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead. ²⁵ And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash smite him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

14 In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel began Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah to reign. ² He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. ³ And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, yet not like David his father: he did according to all that Joash his father had done. ⁴ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. ⁵ And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he slew his servants who had slain the king his father: ⁶ but the children of the murderers he put not to death; according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, as Jehovah commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin. ⁷ He slew of Edom in the Valley of Salt ten thousand, and took ^[y]Sela by war, and called the name of it Joktheel, unto this day.

⁸ Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. ⁹ And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The ^[z]thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle. ¹⁰ Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: glory thereof, and abide at home; for why shouldest thou ^[aa]meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

¹¹ But Amaziah would not hear. So Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah. ¹² And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent. ¹³ And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits. ¹⁴ And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

¹⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁶ And Jehoash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

¹⁷ And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁹ And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. ²⁰ And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.