Bible in 90 Days

Yahweh Appears to Solomon

^11 (A)Thus Solomon completed the house of Yahweh and the king’s house; and all that had come into Solomon’s heart to do in the house of Yahweh and in his house, he did successfully.

¹² Then Yahweh appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and ^(B)have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. ^13 (C)If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, ^14 (D)and My people ^[a]who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will listen from heaven, I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land. ^15 (E)Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the ^[b]prayer offered in this place. ¹⁶ So ^(F)now I have chosen and set this house apart as holy that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. ¹⁷ As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My judgments, ¹⁸ then I will establish your royal throne as I cut a covenant with your father David, saying, ‘^[c](G)You shall not have a man cut off as ruler in Israel.’

¹⁹ “^(H)But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^20 (I)then I will uproot you from My land which I have given ^[d]you, and this house which I have set apart as holy for My name I will cast out of My presence and I will make it ^(J)a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹ As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will feel desolate and say, ‘^(K)Why has Yahweh done thus to this land and to this house?’ ²² And they will say, ‘Because ^(L)they forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt and took hold of other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’”

Solomon Builds Cities

8 ^(M)Now it happened at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own house ² that he built the cities which Huram had given to ^[e]him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and overpowered it. ⁴ And he built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper ^(N)Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, ^(O)fortified cities with walls, gates and bars; ⁶ and Baalath and all the storage cities which Solomon had, and all the cities for ^[f]his chariots, and the cities for ^[g]his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land ^[h]under his rule.

^7 (P)As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ namely, from their sons who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel had not consumed, ^(Q)from them Solomon raised up forced laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves for his work from the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his chief captains and his chariot commanders and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the chief ^[i]deputies of King Solomon, 250 who ruled over the people.

^11 (R)Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because ^[j]the places are holy where the ark of Yahweh has entered.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on ^(S)the altar of Yahweh which he had built before the porch; ¹³ and ^(T)did so according to the daily rule, offering them up ^(U)according to the commandment of Moses, for ^(V)the sabbaths, ^(W)the new moons and the ^(X)three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths.

¹⁴ And according to the judgment of his father David, he caused ^(Y)the divisions of the priests to stand for their service, and ^(Z)the Levites for their responsibilities to praise and minister before the priests according to the daily rule, and ^(AA)the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for ^(AB)David the man of God had so commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not turn away from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any manner or concerning the treasuries.

¹⁶ Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out ^[k]from the day of the foundation of the house of Yahweh, and until it was completed. So the house of Yahweh was finished.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(AC)Ezion-geber and to ^(AD)Eloth on the shore of the sea in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And Huram by the hand of his servants sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and ^(AE)took from there ^[l]450 talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba

9 ^(AF)Now the queen of Sheba heard the report about Solomon. So she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She had a very glorious retinue, with camels carrying spices and a large amount of gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ² And Solomon declared to her the answer to all her matters; and not a matter was hidden from Solomon which he did not declare to her. ³ Then the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and ^[m]his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her. ⁵ Then she said to the king, “The word is true which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ Nevertheless I did not believe their words until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not declared to me. You exceed the report which I heard. ⁷ How ^[n]blessed are your men, how ^[o]blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, ^(AG)to set you on His throne as king for Yahweh your God; ^(AH)because your God loved Israel to cause them to stand forever, therefore He gave you as king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king ^[p]120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. There had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹⁰ Also, the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, ^(AI)who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ And the king made of the algum trees steps for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² Thus King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked, besides a return for what she had brought to the king. Then she turned around and went to her own land together with her servants.

Solomon’s Riches and Wisdom

^13 (AJ)Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all ^(AK)the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ And King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, ^[q]using ^[r]600 shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ And he made 300 shields of beaten gold, ^[s]using ^[t]300 shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ And there were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and ^[u]arms ^[v]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[w]arms. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were also standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ Now all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered ^[x]valuable in the days of Solomon. ^21 (AL)For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

^22 (AM)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ^24 (AN)And they brought every man his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, a set amount year by year.

²⁵ And Solomon had ^(AO)4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^26 (AP)And he was the ruler over all the kings from the ^[y]River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. ^27 (AQ)The king also made silver as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[z]Shephelah. ^28 (AR)And they were importing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

The Death of Solomon

^29 (AS)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, ^(AT)are they not written in the ^[aa]chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^[ab]Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ^30 (AU)Thus Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel. ³¹ And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(AV)the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam became king in his place.

Rehoboam’s Foolish Reign

10 ^(AW)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² And it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^(AX)he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ Then they sent and called for him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(AY)yoke harsh; but now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Then he said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam ^(AZ)took counsel with the elders who had ^[ac]stood before his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to respond to this people?” ⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be good to this people and please them and ^(BA)speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he ^(BB)forsook the counsel of the elders which they had counseled him, and took counsel with the young men who grew up with him and ^[ad]stood before him. ⁹ So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may respond to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ Then the young men who grew up with him spoke with him, saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.’ Thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹ So now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders, ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “^[ae]My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, ^(BC)for it was a turn of events from God, ^(BD)that Yahweh might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ Now all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them. So the people responded to the king, saying,

^(BF)So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was ^(BG)over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel ^[af]stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(BH)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Builds Cities for Fortification

11 ^(BI)Then Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who could wage war, to fight against Israel to return the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of Yahweh came to ^(BJ)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You shall not go up and fight against ^(BK)your brothers; return every man to his house, ^(BL)for this thing is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of Yahweh and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^(BM)built cities for fortifications in Judah. ⁶ Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. ¹² And he put large shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him from all their territories.

Jeroboam Sets Up His Own Priests

¹⁴ For ^(BN)the Levites left their pasture lands and their possession of land and went to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^(BO)Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from ministering as priests to Yahweh— ^15 (BP)And he set up priests of his own for the high places, for the goat demons and for the calves which he had made— ^16 (BQ)Now those from all the tribes of Israel who gave their hearts to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^[ag]followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. ^17 (BR)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and gave courage to Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^(BS)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ And after her he took ^(BT)Maacah the daughter of ^[ah]Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^(BU)he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ^22 (BV)And Rehoboam set up Abijah the son of Maacah to be head and ruler among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ And he acted with discernment and distributed ^[ai]some of his sons through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them sustenance in abundance. And he sought a multitude of wives for them.

Shishak of Egypt Comes Against Judah

12 ^(BW)Now it happened that when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^(BX)he and all Israel with him forsook the law of Yahweh. ^2 (BY)Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to Yahweh, that ^(BZ)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: ^(CA)the Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. ⁴ And he captured ^(CB)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Now ^(CC)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^(CD)You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you ^[aj]to Shishak.’” ⁶ So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “^(CE)Yahweh is righteous.”

⁷ When Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, “^(CF)They have humbled themselves so I will not bring them to ruin, but I will grant them some measure of escape, and ^(CG)My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ But they will become his slaves so ^(CH)that they may know the difference between My slavery and the slavery of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Shishak Takes from Yahweh’s House

^9 (CI)So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything; ^(CJ)he even took the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the hand of the commanders of the ^[ak]guard who kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹ Now it happened that as often as the king entered the house of Yahweh, the ^[al]guards would come and carry them and then bring them back into the ^[am]guards’ room. ¹² And ^(CK)when he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh turned away from him, so as not to ruin him completely; and also conditions ^(CL)were good in Judah.

^13 (CM)So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ And he did evil ^(CN)because he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.

^15 (CO)Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the ^[an]records of ^(CP)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(CQ)Iddo the seer, according to genealogical record? Now there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and ^(CR)Abijah his son became king in his place.

Abijah Reigns over Judah

13 ^(CS)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^(CT)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ And Abijah began the battle with a military force of mighty men, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam arranged them all for battle against him with 800,000 chosen men who were mighty men of valor.

God Smites Israel Before Judah

⁴ Then Abijah rose up on Mount ^(CU)Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Do you not know that ^(CV)Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel forever to David ^[ao]and his sons by ^(CW)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet ^(CX)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his ^[ap]master, ⁷ and worthless men gathered about him, vile men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; ^[aq](CY)he was young and timid and could not exert his strength before them.

⁸ “So now you ^[ar]intend to exert your strength before the kingdom of Yahweh by the hand of the sons of David, ^[as]being a great multitude and having with you ^(CZ)the golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you. ^9 (DA)Have you not driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(DB)to ordain himself with a bull from the herd and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are ^(DC)no gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to Yahweh as priests, and the Levites are in their work. ¹¹ And every morning and evening ^(DD)they ^[at]burn to Yahweh burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and ^(DE)the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we keep the responsibility given by Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken Him. ¹² And behold, God is with us at our head and ^(DF)His priests with the signal trumpets to raise the shout of war against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ But Jeroboam ^(DG)had encircled an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ So Judah turned around, and behold, ^[au]they were attacked both front and rear; so ^(DH)they cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised a shout of war, and when the men of Judah raised the shout of war, then it was that God ^(DI)smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ So the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and ^(DJ)God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong ^(DK)because they leaned upon Yahweh, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its towns, Jeshanah with its towns, and ^[av]Ephron with its towns.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰ Now Jeroboam did not again recover power in the days of Abijah; and ^(DL)Yahweh smote him and ^(DM)he died.

²¹ But Abijah became stronger; and he took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in ^(DN)the ^[aw]treatise of ^(DO)the prophet Iddo.

Asa Reigns over Judah

14 ^[ax](DP)So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was quiet for ten years during his days.

^2 [ay]And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God, ³ for he removed ^(DQ)the foreign altars and ^(DR)high places, shattered the sacred pillars, cut the ^[az](DS)Asherim in pieces, ⁴ and said for Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also ^[ba]removed the high places and the ^(DT)incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him. ^6 (DU)And he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was quiet, and ^[bb]there was no one at war with him during those years, ^(DV)because Yahweh had given him rest. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “^(DW)Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ^[bc]ours because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded. ⁸ Now Asa had a military force of ^(DX)300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Then Zerah the Ethiopian ^(DY)went out against them with a military force of one million men and 300 chariots, and he came to ^(DZ)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out ^[bd]to meet him, and they arranged themselves for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ Then Asa ^(EA)called to Yahweh his God and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, ^(EB)for we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You.” ¹² So ^(EC)Yahweh smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(ED)Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that ^[be]they could not recover, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before His ^[bf]army. And they carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they struck down all the cities around Gerar, ^(EE)for the dread of Yahweh had fallen on them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also struck down ^[bg]those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah

15 Now ^(EF)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out ^[bh]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(EG)Yahweh is with you when you are with Him. And ^(EH)if you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ^3 (EI)Now for many days Israel was without the true God and without ^(EJ)a teaching priest and without law. ⁴ But ^(EK)in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them. ^5 (EL)Now in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (EM)And nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, ^(EN)be strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is ^(EO)reward for your work.”

Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols

⁸ Now when Asa heard these words and the ^[bi]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^(EP)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^(EQ)He then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh. ⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon ^(ER)who sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. ¹⁰ So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ^11 (ES)And they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. ^12 (ET)They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; ¹³ and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^(EU)should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵ All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So ^(EV)Yahweh gave them rest on every side.

^16 (EW)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ^[bj]as ^(EX)an Asherah; and ^(EY)Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But the high places were not ^[bk]removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa Wars Against Baasha

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign ^(EZ)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ² Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “Let there be a covenant between ^[bl]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ⁴ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^(FA)the ^[bm]store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons a Seer

⁷ Now at that time ^(FB)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^(FC)Because you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. ⁸ Were not ^(FD)the Ethiopians and the Lubim ^(FE)a vast military force with an exceedingly vast number of chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(FF)because you leaned on Yahweh, He gave them into your hand. ⁹ For ^(FG)the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those ^(FH)whose heart is wholly devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was vexed with the seer and put him in ^[bn]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

^11 (FI)Now behold, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² And Asa became diseased in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he ^(FJ)did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians. ¹³ So Asa slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ And they buried him in his own tomb which he had ^[bo]cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled ^(FK)with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and ^(FL)they made a very great fire for him.

Jehoshaphat Reigns over Judah

17 ^(FM)Jehoshaphat his son then became king in his place, and strengthened himself over Israel. ² And he put military forces in all ^(FN)the fortified cities of Judah, and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim ^(FO)which Asa his father had captured.

Jehoshaphat’s Kingdom Established

³ And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, ⁴ but sought the God of his father, walked in His commandments, ^(FP)and did not act as Israel did. ⁵ So Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and ^(FQ)he had great riches and honor. ⁶ And ^[bp]his heart took great pride in the ways of Yahweh, and again he ^(FR)took away the high places and the ^[bq]Asherim from Judah.

⁷ Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, ^(FS)to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸ and with them ^(FT)the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹ And they taught in Judah, having ^(FU)the book of the law of Yahweh with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰ Now ^(FV)the dread of Yahweh was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Indeed, some of the Philistines ^(FW)brought presents and silver as their tax burden to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. ¹² So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah. ¹³ And he had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and men of war, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ This was their muster according to their fathers’ households:

¹⁹ These are they who attended on the king, apart from ^(FY)those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab

18 Now ^(FZ)Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and he allied himself by marriage with Ahab. ^2 (GA)And some years later he went down to Ahab at Samaria. And Ahab sacrificed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him, and incited him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. ³ And Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth-gilead?” And he said to him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people, and we will be with you in the battle.”

⁴ Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire ^[br]first for the word of Yahweh.” ⁵ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” ⁶ But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of him?” ⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil. He is Micaiah, son of Imla.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

⁸ Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Hasten to bring Micaiah son of Imla.” ⁹ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, clothed in their royal garments, and they were sitting ^(GB)at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰ And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are consumed.’” ¹¹ All the prophets were also prophesying thus, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.”

¹² Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, “Behold, the words of the prophets, as if from one mouth, are good to the king. So please let your word be like one of them and speak that which is good.” ¹³ But Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives, ^(GC)what my God says, that I shall speak.”

¹⁴ Then he came to the king, and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go up and succeed, and they will be given into your hand.” ¹⁵ Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?” ¹⁶ So he said,

¹⁷ So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

¹⁸ Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. ^(GE)I saw Yahweh sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left. ¹⁹ And Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. ²⁰ Then a ^(GF)spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh and said, ‘I will entice him.’ And Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ ²¹ And he said, ‘I will go out and be ^(GG)a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You shall entice him and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ ²² So now, behold, ^(GH)Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, but Yahweh has spoken calamity against you.”

²³ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and ^(GI)struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “^[bs]How did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak to you?” ²⁴ And Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day when you enter an inner room to hide.” ²⁵ Then the king of Israel said, “^(GJ)Take Micaiah and return him to Amon ^(GK)the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son; ²⁶ and say, ‘Thus says the king, “^(GL)Put this man in prison and feed him ^[bt]sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.”’” ²⁷ And Micaiah said, “If you indeed return safely, Yahweh has not spoken by me.” And he said, “^(GM)Listen, all you people.”

The Death of Ahab

²⁸ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your garments.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. ³⁰ Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone.” ³¹ Now it happened that when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel,” and they turned to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat ^(GN)cried out, and Yahweh helped him, and God incited them away from him. ³² So it happened that when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³³ Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel ^[bu]in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of the chariot, “Turn ^[bv]around and take me out of the ^[bw]fight, for I am severely wounded.” ³⁴ Now the battle raged that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans until the evening; and at sunset he died.

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

19 Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in peace to his house in Jerusalem. ^2 (GO)And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him to his face and said to King Jehoshaphat, “^(GP)Should you help the wicked and love those who hate Yahweh and ^[bx](GQ)so bring wrath on yourself from Yahweh? ³ But ^(GR)some good has been found in you, for ^(GS)you have purged the ^[by]Asheroth from the land and you ^(GT)have set your heart to seek God.”

⁴ So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem. Indeed, he returned and went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and ^(GU)caused them to return back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

⁵ And he appointed ^(GV)judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, in each city. ⁶ And he said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for ^(GW)you do not judge for man but for Yahweh who is with you ^[bz]when you render judgment. ⁷ So now then let the dread of Yahweh be upon you; ^[ca]be careful what you do, because ^[cb]with Yahweh our God ^(GX)there is no unrighteousness ^(GY)or partiality or the taking of a bribe.”

⁸ In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat appointed some ^(GZ)of the Levites and priests, and some of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh and to judge ^[cc]disputes. So they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹ Then he commanded them saying, “Thus you shall do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully and wholeheartedly. ^10 (HA)Whenever any dispute comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, you shall warn them so that they may not be guilty before Yahweh and ^(HB)wrath may not come on you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not be guilty. ¹¹ And behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in ^[cd](HC)all that pertains to Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in ^[ce]all that pertains to the king. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. ^(HD)Be strong and act, and Yahweh be with the one who is good.”

War Against Judah

20 Now it happened after this, that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the ^[cf](HE)Ammonites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. ² Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of ^[cg]Aram and behold, they are in ^(HF)Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” ³ And Jehoshaphat was afraid and ^[ch](HG)set his face to seek Yahweh, and ^(HH)called for a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ^(HI)seek help from Yahweh; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.

Jehoshaphat Before the Assembly

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Yahweh before the new court, ⁶ and he said, “O Yahweh, the God of our fathers, ^(HJ)are You not God in the heavens? And ^(HK)are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can take their stand against You. ⁷ Did You not, O our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and ^(HL)give it to the seed of ^(HM)Abraham Your friend forever? ⁸ And they have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘^(HN)Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for ^(HO)Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’ ¹⁰ So now, behold, ^(HP)the sons of Ammon and Moab and ^[ci]Mount Seir, ^(HQ)whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), ¹¹ and behold, they are rewarding us by ^(HR)coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have caused us to possess. ¹² O our God, ^(HS)will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; and we do not know what we should do, but ^(HT)our eyes are on You.”

¹³ Now all Judah was standing before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Yahweh’s Spirit Comes upon Jahaziel

¹⁴ Then in the midst of the assembly ^(HU)the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; ¹⁵ and he said, “Pay attention, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says Yahweh to you, ‘^(HV)Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for ^(HW)the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You need not fight in this battle; take your stand—^(HX)stand and see the salvation of Yahweh on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, ^(HY)for Yahweh is with you.”

¹⁸ So Jehoshaphat ^(HZ)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh. ¹⁹ Then the Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, rose up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

Yahweh Eradicates the Multitude

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^(IA)establish your faith in Yahweh your God and you will be established. Establish your faith in His prophets and succeed.” ²¹ When he had taken counsel with the people, he caused those who sang to Yahweh and those who ^(IB)praised Him to stand in holy attire, as they went out before the army, saying, “^(IC)Give thanks to Yahweh, for His lovingkindness endures forever.” ²² When they began singing for joy and praising, Yahweh ^(ID)set ambushes against the sons of ^(IE)Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were ^[cj]defeated. ²³ Indeed, the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to devote them to destruction and to utterly eradicate them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, ^(IF)they helped to bring one another to ruin.

²⁴ Now Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, and they turned toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses fallen on the ground, and no one had escaped. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil and found much among them, including goods, ^[ck]garments, and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.

Jehoshaphat Returns to Jerusalem

²⁶ Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of ^[cl]Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of ^[cm]Beracah” until today. ²⁷ And every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with gladness, ^(IG)for Yahweh had made them glad over their enemies. ²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh. ²⁹ And ^(IH)the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, ^(II)for his God gave him rest all around.

^31 (IJ)Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it, doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh. ^33 (IK)The high places, however, were not taken away; ^(IL)the people had not yet set their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first ^[cn]to last, behold, they are written in the chronicles of ^(IM)Jehu the son of Hanani, which is ^[co]recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel.

Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahaziah

^35 (IN)Afterwards, Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly ^[cp]in so doing. ³⁶ So he allied himself with him to make ships to go ^(IO)to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. ³⁷ Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” So the ships were broken and could not go to Tarshish.

Jehoram Reigns over Judah

21 ^(IP)And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place. ² Now he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, ^[cq]Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king ^(IQ)of Israel. ³ And their father gave them many gifts of silver, gold, and precious things, ^(IR)with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴ So Jehoram arose over the kingdom of his father and strengthened himself, and he ^(IS)killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the commanders of Israel also. ^5 (IT)Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (IU)And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, ^(IV)for Ahab’s daughter was his wife; and he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh. ⁷ However, Yahweh was not willing to make the house of David a ruin because of the covenant which He had cut with David, ^(IW)and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.

Revolt Against Judah

⁸ In his days ^(IX)Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah and made a king over themselves. ⁹ Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his fathers. ¹¹ Moreover, ^(IY)he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(IZ)to play the harlot and drove Judah astray.

¹² Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of your father David, ‘Because ^(JA)you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father ^(JB)and the ways of Asa king of Judah, ¹³ but ^(JC)have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot ^(JD)as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you ^(JE)have also killed your brothers, ^[cr]your own family, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, Yahweh is going to smite your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a great ^[cs]calamity; ¹⁵ and ^(JF)you will suffer ^[ct]severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”

¹⁶ Then ^(JG)Yahweh stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and ^(JH)the Arabs who ^[cu]bordered the Ethiopians; ¹⁷ and they went up against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^[cv](JI)Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.

¹⁸ So after all this Yahweh smote him ^(JJ)in his bowels with an incurable sickness. ¹⁹ Now it happened in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died with this greatly painful disease. And his people made no fire for him like ^(JK)the fire for his fathers. ²⁰ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed ^[cw](JL)with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, ^(JM)but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Reigns over Judah

22 ^(JN)Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^[cx]Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with ^(JO)the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah became king. ² Ahaziah was ^[cy]twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the ^[cz]granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. ⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to ^(JP)his destruction.

Ahaziah Goes with Jehoram of Israel

⁵ He also walked according to their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the ^[da](JQ)Arameans struck ^[db]Joram. ⁶ So he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they caused by striking him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And ^[dc]Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷ Now ^(JR)the downfall of Ahaziah was from God, in that ^[dd]he went to Joram. And when he came, ^(JS)he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(JT)whom Yahweh had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

Jehu Kills the Princes of Judah

^8 (JU)Now it happened when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers attending to Ahaziah, and killed them. ^9 (JV)And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him while he was hiding himself in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death, ^(JW)and buried him. For they said, “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, ^(JX)who sought Yahweh with all his heart.” So there was no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain the power of the kingdom.

^10 (JY)Now Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son had died. So she rose and destroyed all the royal seed of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and put him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so she did not put him to death. ¹² So he was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah was reigning over the land.

Jehoiada Makes Joash King

23 ^(JZ)Now in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took commanders of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Johanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, and they entered into a covenant with him. ² And they went around Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’ households of ^(KA)Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. ³ Then all the assembly cut a covenant with the king in the house of God. And ^[de]Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, ^(KB)as Yahweh has spoken concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This is the thing which you shall do: one-third of you, of the priests and Levites ^(KC)who come in on the sabbath, shall be gatekeepers at the thresholds, 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 Yahweh. ⁶ But let no one enter the house of Yahweh except the priests and ^(KD)the ministering Levites; they may enter, for they are holy. And let all the people keep the charge of Yahweh. ⁷ And the Levites will surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever enters the house, let him be put to death. And be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to go out on the sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss any of ^(KE)the divisions. ⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest gave to the commanders of hundreds the spears and the shields and small shields which had been King David’s, which were in the house of God. ¹⁰ And he caused all the people to stand, each man with his weapon in his hand, from the right ^[df]side of the house to the left ^[dg]side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. ¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him, and gave him ^(KF)the testimony and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “^(KG)Long live the king!”

Athaliah Put to Death

¹² Then Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, so she came into the house of Yahweh to the people. ¹³ And she looked, and behold, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the commanders and the ^[dh]trumpeters were beside the king. And all the people of the land were glad and blew trumpets, the singers with their musical instruments ^[di]leading the praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the commanders of hundreds who were appointed over the military force and said to them, “Bring her out ^[dj]between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “You shall not put her to death in the house of Yahweh.” ¹⁵ So they laid hands on her, and when she arrived at the entrance of ^(KH)the Horse Gate of the king’s house, they ^(KI)put her to death there.