2 Chronicles 23

Revised Geneva Translation

23 And in the seventh year, Jehoiada grew bold and took the captains of hundreds—Azariah the son of Jeroham and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan and Azariah the son of Obed and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah and Elishaphat the son of Zichri—into covenant with him.

² And they went about in Judah and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel. And they came to Jerusalem.

³ And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the House of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son must reign, as the LORD has said of the sons of David.

⁴ “This is what you shall do. One third of you who come on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be gatekeepers of the doors.

⁵ “And one third shall be at the king’s house, and one third at the gate of the foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the House of the LORD.

⁶ “But let no one come into the House of the LORD except the priests and the Levites who minister. They shall go in, for they are holy. But all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

⁷ “And the Levites shall surround the king, all around, every man with his weapon in his hand. And whoever enters into the House shall be killed. And you are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸ So, the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the Priest had commanded. And every man took his men who came in on the Sabbath along with those who went out on the Sabbath. For Jehoiada the Priest did not discharge the divisions.

⁹ And Jehoiada the Priest delivered spears to the captains of hundreds, and shields, and bucklers, which had been King David’s and were in the House of God.

¹⁰ And he had all the people stand (every man with his weapon in his hand) from the right side of the House to the left side of the House, by the Altar and by the House, all around the king.

¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown upon him and gave him the Testimony and made him King. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “God save the king.”

¹² But when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people, into the House of the LORD.

¹³ And when she looked, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance. And the princes and the trumpets were by the king. And all the people of the land rejoiced and blew the trumpets. And the singers were with instruments of music, and those who could sing praise. Then, Athaliah tore her clothes, and said, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the Priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were governors of the army, and said to them, “Take her forth between the ranks! And let whoever follows her die by the sword!” For the Priest had said, “Do not kill her in the House of the LORD.”

¹⁵ So they laid hands on her. And when she had come to the entrance of the horse gate, by the king’s house, they killed her there.

¹⁶ And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king: that they would be the LORD’s people.

¹⁷ And all the people went to the house of Baal and destroyed and broke his altars and his images and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altars.

¹⁸ And Jehoiada appointed officers for the House of the LORD, under the hands of the priests and Levites, whom David had distributed for the House of the LORD, to offer Burnt Offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, by the appointment of David.

¹⁹ And he set gatekeepers by the gates of the House of the LORD, so that no one who was unclean in anything could enter.

²⁰ And he took the captains of hundreds and the noblemen and the governors of the people and all the people of the land; and he had the king come down out of the House of the LORD. And they went through the High Gate of the king’s house and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

²¹ Then, all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet after they had killed Athaliah with the sword.