2 Chronicles 22

¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziʹah his youngest son king in his stead; for the band of men that came with the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziʹah the son of Jehoʹram king of Judah reigned. ²Ahaziʹah was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliʹah, the granddaughter of Omri. ³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. ⁴He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done; for after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. ⁵He even followed their counsel, and went with Jehoʹram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazʹael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, ⁶and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazʹael king of Syria. And Ahaziʹah the son of Jehoʹram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

⁷But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziʹah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there he went out with Jehoʹram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ⁸And when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziʹah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziʹah, and he killed them. ⁹He searched for Ahaziʹah, and he was captured while hiding in Samarʹia, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshʹaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziʹah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

¹⁰Now when Athaliʹah the mother of Ahaziʹah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Jeho-shabʹe-ath, the daughter of the king, took Joʹash the son of Ahaziʹah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus Jeho-shabʹe-ath, the daughter of King Jehoʹram and wife of Jehoiʹada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziʹah, hid him from Athaliʹah, so that she did not slay him; ¹²and he remained with them six years, hid in the house of God, while Athaliʹah reigned over the land.